Digital Sheriff
by Lord Genesis Shadow
Summary: An Impmon with a small glitch in his data became something different. Though a Virus, he wants to be a force of the law, a sheriff. With his Tamer, they hope to do great things. If all goes well, they might just live their dreams someday. Rating may rise.
1. A Fight in the Park, One Tough Rookie

**Greetings, welcome, salutations, and ik ben blij u hier te zien allemaal (Translation, Dutch: I'm happy to see you all here.). Why I just spoke Dutch, I'm not quite sure. But it's true nonetheless. I hope you enjoy this story, but to be honest, I really wish I had a better working title. This one might not cut it for long and it's the only one I could think of that fit. I'm open to suggestions.**

**This is a little different, and I'm trying something new, but I hope it works out. I've had the outline of this idea for a while, and this is what it came to. I'll gladly accept OCs, just as with all of my other stories, but keep them reasonable. I don't want anything overpowered, but feel free to give teams, one Digimon and one Tamer to them, or just one wild Digimon, can be an enemy or a temporary ally, even a rival that reappears from time to time. Our star needs a way to get stronger.**

**Bear in mind I have five chapters ready so far, so I won't be able to easily add anyone until after then. I can try, but it won't be very easy. That said, I'll do what I can to add them if I can find a way to put them in somehow, maybe even in a flashback.**

**Disclaimer: I, Lord Genesis Shadow, do hereby state that I do not own the rights to Digimon. The story idea is mine, the rest goes to the respective creators and owners. Thank you, and have a nice day.  
>…<strong>

I tilted the baseball 'cap' down a little as the little kids played outside of the small school. It was the end of the day and they were waiting for their parents. I was in the car, waiting with Mara, my best friend's mother, waiting for her daughter. My friend was already walking home by now, though I had to wait behind at the house to help his mother with the chores.

"Mao, would you be a dear and check the back for Kelly's juice?" She asked after a few minutes. I raised the hat and undid the seatbelt before climbing into the back. She opened the door as I looked around for a second before spotting the box.

"Hi mommy." Kelly said. She was six years old, and very energetic.

"Hi sweetie." Mara said.

"Mao?" Kelly asked. I stuck my head up a little and she smiled as I held out her juice box, which she took.

"Hi Kelly." I said. She giggled as I climbed back into the seat, where she held out the box. She had trouble getting the straw through the hole, so I took the box and poked the hole with the straw while Mara strapped her into the car seat, facing backward. "Here you go." She took it with a smile and began drinking it while I put my seatbelt back on.

"How was school?" Mara asked.

"Fun." Kelly said. I leaned back and tilted the borrowed hat again. "We watched a movie, and it was really funny." She giggled as I put my hands on my stomach.

"That's good." Mara said. "We'll have to rent it soon." Kelly drank her juice but I leaned my head up a little. "Mao?"

"Something, doesn't feel right." I said quickly. I undid the belt again and looked out the window as they looked at me. "There." I pointed as Mara's cell phone started buzzing. I heard her open it.

"Arthur?" She asked. "Yes, he's right here." I turned and took the offered phone.

"Mao, did you feel that?" He asked.

"I think so." I said. "Are you nearby?"

"I'm over by my school." He said. "I'm actually just starting on the way home. Do you think it might be an emergence?"

"I do." I said. "I've got that feeling."

"Crap." He said. "I've got a teacher who offered to drive me out to it, if you said you thought it might be. You're totally sure?" I looked at the sky.

"I am." I said calmly. "This looks like a good one. I'd say, Champion, at the most, or a really tough rookie. We'll have to work for a win on this one." I heard the doors close. "By the way, I found your good hat. I'm wearing it right now."

"Dude…" He said, laughing quietly. "Not cool. That's my lucky cap." I smirked as Mara started the minivan. "I'll be at the northern intersection by the Pizza Hut. Hurry up, or I might buy a slice."

"See you there Art." I said. He closed his phone and I closed Mara's. "He's at the northern intersection at the Pizza Hut. I'd hurry." I handed her the phone as she started going, and I quickly sat down and buckled in.

"You said, Champion?" She asked. "What kind of Digimon is that?" I looked at her as she started moving quickly.

"I don't know yet." I said. "Champion is, like a different level. I'm a Rookie level, and Champion is the next stage. They're really strong, though hopefully this is just a really tough Rookie."

"How much danger will you both be in?" She asked.

"Well, if all goes well and I get the drop on it, none." I said. "I might be able to take it down right off the bat." She began turning and I heard a siren. "Oh, come on." I looked back quickly and saw the motorcycle cop as she pulled over and put her head on the steering wheel, though I rolled down the window as he took his time getting off of his bike. Luckily I was on the driver's side. "Come on, come on. Hurry up." As he got up beside me I slowly leaned my head out. "Officer, we're in a big hurry." His head was down as he removed his helmet.

"Hurry or not, you were breaking the speed limit." He said.

"And a wild Digimon is in the park." I said. He laughed.

"Right, and you've got a Digimon." He said.

"I _am_ a Digimon." I said. He raised his head and began to speak, but he saw me instantly as I removed the hat. "Well?" He put his helmet on, followed by his sunglasses.

"Tell the driver to follow me." He said quickly.

"My Tamer is outside of the Pizza Hut on the north side!" I called as he got on his bike. I got back in and Mara looked back. "He says to stay close behind his bike." I rolled up the window as he started the bike and the siren.

"Good thinking Mao." She said. The officer went past and she quickly caught up to him. As we drove, Kelly giggled.

"Cool." She said. "I get to watch?"

"From a distance." Mara said. "If it's safe enough."

"Or on the computer." I said.  
>…<p>

I got out of the van as Arthur walked onto the road. The portal had completely opened and he quickly pulled out the Digivice.

"It's a fairly big one." He said. "Kind of, a dinosaur looking one, big, red, and mean."

"Bipedal?" I asked. He nodded. "Fire?" He shook his head.

"Not yet, but it doesn't look too happy." He said. "It's like it, wants to blast flames, but it won't. It's like it's looking for something."

"Well, I say we go in however we can, and try to drop it quick." I said. "Anything else I should know?"

"Yeah, it sees us." He said. I turned as it glared for a moment before turning and walking toward the playground. I groaned.

"Great, it's a Tyrannomon." I said tiredly. "I've seen enough of these idiots."

"Hey, uh, w-what's your name?" The officer suddenly asked. We turned to him. "I need to write this down in my report. I'd rather, skip introductions, but I don't need my boss on my case, you know?" Arthur put on his cap.

"I'm Arthur." He said. "This is my partner, Mao."

"Mow?" He asked.

"Spelled em, ay, oh." I said.

"And, what kind of Digimon are you, exactly?" He asked.

"I'm a GunImpmon." I said.

"Gun?" He asked. "Oh, I see." He pointed the pen toward my belt as I nodded. He wrote something down in his notepad and gestured quickly. "Take it down then. I'll, get some video evidence. Hurry." I nodded and turned to Arthur, though as I suspected, he was already on his way over.

"Be careful!" Mara said. I took off after him and quickly made it past him.

"Speed is of the essence." I said, drawing the revolver at my side. It looked like a plain revolver, a .32, but it got the job done.

"Got it." He said. "Optimizing for speed and accuracy, drawing from muscle. You won't need that, right?" I nodded as he skidded to a halt behind a tree, and my body felt smaller in muscle, but only in the upper body and left arm. This was my 'blitz' state, as Arthur called it. I was physically faster, but my body was a little weaker. My Digivice was different than the common models. It let Arthur augment my Data, and thus my body, for various purposes, though the change had to draw data from somewhere. Shifting muscle somewhere required muscle from elsewhere. Muscle from my body and left arm let my legs and right arm get a little stronger. As I got in I jumped high as it turned, and I just went over its head while it couldn't see me. But as luck would have it, I landed near the tail when it turned, and it knocked me over. "Mao!" It turned as I rolled, and just as I knew, it tried to claw me. I rolled to both sides quickly before rolling back and then onto my feet to jump up and grab its shoulder.

"Hey, didn't you hear?" I asked. "You need a _Tamer_…" I jumped off of its arm and held onto a spine on its back as it turned quickly. "To be here in the _park_!" I fired the revolver into its shoulder twice before it spun and threw me off. I rolled over my shoulder and turned as I opened the cylinder and ejected the spent rounds."Shadow Reload." I felt the weight of two new bullets in my palm and I rapidly reloaded my weapon, closing the cylinder swiftly. "Arthur, recoil for six!" I felt the change again as the muscle from my legs that came from my body went to both of my arms as I pointed the revolver at it. I saw the flames forming as it roared. It fired several balls of fire in rapid succession, six in all, and I shot each one. The flames exploded, but the bullets, as I intended, were forced into the ground, though one hit it in the leg. It roared as I stepped back carefully. "Lasso!" Again the change coursed through me and my arms were made more muscular, as were my legs. Basically, he had set me back to 'normal'. I moved my revolver to my left hand and focused on my right. "Blazing Lasso!" I formed a line of fire as Tyrannomon roared again, and a loop near the end. I swung it as I waited, and as soon as I saw the beginning of the flames I threw the line of flame and pulled tight as it reached the mouth, forcing it shut. It roared in pain for a moment before flames shot out of its nostrils, and it grabbed the rope as I took aim at its good hand, the other arm hanging limp due to the two bullets. "Badda-Boom Shot!" I pulled the trigger and concentrated fire hit the hand, and I repeated the action until it let go of the lasso. "Arthur, ground grip!" My legs were given nearly all of the muscle I could spare without losing my grip on the lasso. I wasn't as strong as Tyrannomon, but I could hold on for a few moments. "Badda-Boom Shot!" I fired repeatedly again, hitting it in the face and good arm as it fought me, turning its head. "No, no you don't! You're not getting away from me!"

"Buraimon, aid the gunmon!" A man called. I looked over as a bird-man with two swords and a strange straw hat rushing forward. "Give it a good one!" He wore a red outfit without sleeves and gold waves on the legs, golden armbands, a pair of swords with blue scabbards, and large golden brown wings sprouting from his back, flared as he got closer and drew his first blade.

"Tsubame Nimai Gaeshi!" The bird Digimon called. He rushed closer and swung the right sword quickly, cutting the damaged arm off and spinning and drawing the left sword just as fast, cutting the tail almost free. Tyrannomon roared and swung its arm as I let go of the lasso.

"Shadow Reload!" I called quickly. I opened the revolver as Buraimon dodged several claw swipes and sliced fireballs in half as I swung the revolver, tossing the spent cartridges so that they hit the wounded stump. "Arthur, power attack!" I felt muscle in my right arm as I pointed the revolver after reloading a single shot, gripping the rest as I took aim at the head as it looked over at me. "Dark Round!" I fired a bullet laced with darkness and hit it through its right eye as I skidded back a few inches. I panted through my nose quietly as I lowered the revolver, the dead dino falling and vanishing in a flurry of green code, much of which flew over to me, though some went past me to the Digivice. Arthur walked over as my body returned to normal.

"Good shot buddy." He said. "Close one."

"Yes, it was." Buraimon said. We looked at him as a man in a dark grey suit walked over. "Sending a Rookie against a Champion. A risky move." I shrugged as I reloaded the revolver, holstering it after I was done.

"He's more than strong enough." Arthur said defensively. I tapped his arm and stepped forward.

"What Arthur means is, thank you." I said. "I could have handled it, but we're happy to have any help we can get." Arthur sighed.

"You could have handled it." The man repeated. I nodded. "How?"

"Same way I finished it after your partner took off its arm and tail." I said. "One shot through the eye. I just needed to wear the thing out a little more and I could have reloaded while leading it around." He smirked.

"You know, I'd keep an eye out for visitors for a few days." He said. "If you're truly as skilled as you say, well, you'll see." He turned as Buraimon walked ahead of him.

"H-hey, who are you?" Arthur asked.

"Name's Baxter." He said. "See you around kid."  
>…<p>

I spun the revolver on my finger as Arthur went over the new data. He was careful to always do so after every battle to make sure we could make use of it. If not, he would release it and it would be sent back to the Digital World. A major difference between this Digivice and many others, was that it was a gauntlet that was fitted over his left forearm and it had a touch-screen on his palm and a keyboard on along his forearm, and a small stylus on the side near the screen, which was just large enough for him to see a picture of me, which could be 'flipped' like a page to show different screens.

"Arthur, dinner's almost ready." Mara said.

"Just going over the data." He said. "It's, different, but useable."

"Hurry up." She said.

"Hurry up!" Kelly repeated. "Hamburgers!" I turned my head as I licked my lips. I loved Mara's hamburgers. Handmade, ground at the butcher's, and seasoned perfectly. It was a no brainer why she'd win any cooking contest she decided to enter, full points in every area. She used to be a famous chef. She even made the bread from scratch in the morning. I knew she was baking bread earlier, but hamburger buns? She really went all out.

"Okay buddy, we just got a full gigabyte of new data." Arthur said suddenly. I looked at him as he showed me the screen. "Check that out. One full gig, maybe more." I nodded slowly as I tilted my head. "This is great. You can put this anywhere you need it now." He held out the stylus. "Optimize buddy." He grinned as I took it and tapped my chin for a moment before smirking and tapping a small picture of a reservoir and sliding the stylus to my torso and holding it for a few seconds, followed by each of my limbs and finally my neck and jaw. When he looked at it he nodded. "Balanced. Good choice." I could add data all over my body to aid in battle, which is what the Digivice did. By shifting data, AKA my muscles, to another place, it would reinforce my body to be even stronger than I would normally be in a given area. Speed from my legs could become strength for my arms, or toughened skin in my chest. The only things it couldn't do involved my brain and eyes, since messing with them was beyond its power. "Okay then, with that, dinnertime." He got off of the couch as I holstered the pistol, now lighter from having taken out the bullets, which sat in the loops for them on the back of my belt. I'd use the front, but I keep my special 'Burner' bullets there, tipped with red lead. As we walked to the kitchen there was a sound out front, so I quickly jumped up to the door and stood on the knob as Arthur stopped. "Mao, dinner? Burgers?" I saw a black Denali out front and two men stepping out in black suits.

"We've got visitors." I said. They walked up and I moved down and stepped back. "I'll be in the kitchen, behind the fridge." I jogged away as Mara held a burger out to me, which I took. "Thank you." I went to walk back when Arthur opened the door.

"Uh, excuse me." He said. A man walked in and removed his sunglasses. "Sir, I didn't… Fine, come in. Just don't take us hostage or anything until after we eat."

"Interesting." The man said. He had a rich tan and long dark brown hair, and his eyes were green. His partner walked over, a very dark skinned man with short black hair, though he didn't remove his sunglasses. I offered the burger.

"Um, hello." Mara said. They produced a pair of badges as Arthur walked around them, and I began lowering my hand when the second man cleared his throat.

"I'm Special Agent Taggart." He said. "This is my partner, Special Agent Johnson. We're from the…"

"The DGA?" Arthur asked. I looked at him as I finished lowering the burger.

"You've heard of us?" The first man asked.

"Yeah, there was a thing in school the other week." Arthur replied. "They were, asking if anyone had a Digimon. They didn't believe me since, well…" He held up the Digivice. "My Digivice doesn't exactly 'correspond to current records'. It's not an original, a D-3, or a D-Power, so they just said I was a kid with a fancy new toy." Agent Johnson looked at it and held up his hand before Arthur nodded, and Johnson looked it over as Taggart looked at me before kneeling, whereupon I offered the burger again.

"Last time I'm offering." I said. "Next time I pull my hand back, I'm taking a bite." He laughed as Mara walked over to Johnson with a plate with two burgers, and Arthur took one, as did Johnson, and as I looked away I felt Taggart take my offered burger, so I looked back at him while lowering my arm.

"You're a new Digimon." He said. "An Impmon, but the data is definitely different. No smiley tattoo on your stomach." I shrugged.

"That's because I'm a GunImpmon." I said. "The gun is data, just like the tin star." He looked at the star before standing up while I gestured to the chair. "I take it you're not just here to see a new Digimon. You could do that during the day."

"We were informed by one of the Tamers that you finished off a Tyrannomon." Johnson said. I looked to see him and Arthur at the table, so I climbed onto my chair as Taggart sat across from Kelly. "The time was a little after three forty seven."

"Y-yeah, about then." Arthur said. "Some guy stepped in and helped us, but Mao is a lot stronger than he looks."

"Rookie, probably just shy of thirty gigs?" Taggart asked.

"Sixty two." I said. They looked at me as Mara set a burger in front of me on a plate. "Thank you." She nodded and walked over after giving Kelly the other.

"Good thing I wanted leftovers to reheat tomorrow." She said.

"Sixty two gigs?" Johnson asked. "Wow. Tough guy."

"Sixty three." Arthur said quickly. "The, gigabyte from the Tyrannomon I kept." I shrugged.

"So, this Digivice." Taggart asked. "What does it do that makes it take up that much space?"

"Well, it lets me 'Optimize' Mao's data." Arthur replied. "I draw a line from one part of his body and type in a number in a field, either megabytes or gigabytes, and then draw a line to another part of his body, and it transfers data from the one part to the other, or others. It can make him stronger or faster, or better able to take a punch. Depending on where he feels he needs it, I can help him jump high into the air and then get his arms strong enough to break a bird Digimon's wings, and then back to his legs so he can land without hurting himself." They nodded as I took a bite of the burger in time with Kelly.

"Interesting." Taggart said. "This is the first I've ever heard of such a Digivice. What do you call it?"

"I just, call it a Digivice most of the time." He said. "But, the first time I got it, it had the words Digi-Optimizer on the screen." He turned it on and held it out to Johnson. "And it moved to the top, there."

"So, Digi-Optimizer…" He said slowly.


	2. A Day in School, Show and Tell

**So far it seems this story isn't being well read, but hopefully it'll pick up sooner or later. If not, I'll have to start advertising, and that would involve me having a Demon Kiwi driving a motorized sandwich board, and think we'd all like to avoid that… *Small Kiwi with red eyes drives into the room with the sandwich board, his tail feathers wagging* Well, not Peewee. He likes stuff like that. *Peewee waves his foot* Why, I do not know.**

**Disclaimer: I, Lord Genesis Shadow, do not own the rights to Digimon. Thank you for reading, if you are reading this.  
>…<strong>

"_Hey, freak, where'd you get that gun?" A Digimon asked. I looked over and saw that it was a Tsukaimon with a group of DemiDevimon._

"_I've had it since I Digivolved." I said with a shrug. "Why do you care? You don't have hands." They laughed as I got up from the small cliff I was sitting at. "That can't be the only reason you're here. What did you want?" There were six in all. Perfect in case they attacked._

"_We want you to help us steal treasure from Myotismon." It said. I figured it was a female. I just caught that feminine undertone in her voice that would normally be hidden by the pitch. "There's a lot of nice stuff. Even some new guns. All you have to do is take out a few guards and help us get in, and we'll all be rich."_

"_I think I'll pass." I said. "I prefer hard work to thievery." They laughed again._

"_Trust me, this will be hard work." She said. "Kill the guards, get into the safe, put the money and stuff in the bags, and then running out. A lot of hard work."_

"_Well, in your case the hardest part would be, getting the money in the bags." I said. She seemed confused. "Well, you don't have hands, so you'd have to put the money in with your mouth, and then carry it that way." She growled. "Besides, Myotismon wouldn't be happy to find his guards dead, and he'd definitely come after us. You're planning will get you all killed one way or another."_

"_You don't talk to pretty Tsukai like that!" One DemiDevimon said angrily. It flew at me and I ducked aside before I focused._

"_Imp Fire Kick!" I called. I jumped as it turned as my foot burst into flame, and I kicked it toward its friends. Two went down with it and the other three seemed about to attack so I held out my hands. "Burning Fence!" I summoned a pair of pink and purple flames and threw them in front of me, where the erupted into a mesh fence that arced above me, as was my intent. They couldn't attack from the front, only from the sides or from one open point. Sure, I was at the edge, with only a few feet, but I still had my gun just in case. "Still want to fight? I'm not even trying." That wasn't totally true. My attacks did take a bit of energy, and I had just gotten done with my training. I was at just under a quarter of my usual stamina thanks to the two attacks I had used. I preferred just attacking with my hands and feet, but I didn't want them to keep attacking me. I hated fighting for the sake of protecting my life. If I fought, I just wanted practice, with no chance of anyone getting hurt or killed._

"_Either you help us, or I tell Myotismon that you're plotting to steal his money." Tsukaimon said. I laughed._

"_Try, and I'll shoot you." I said threateningly. She stepped back as I heard wings behind me, so I turned, drawing my revolver like lightning, and shot the four DemiDevimon in succession. They all fell as their bodies returned to their base coding. They'd never hit the ground. As I turned, they were backing away as the fence faded. The DemiDevimon suddenly opened its mouth._

"_Demi Dart!" It called. It summoned a needle full of poison and launched it, but I just shot it, the bullet continuing on to hit it in the middle of the skull on its mask._

"_Y-you're a freak." Tsukaimon said._

"_What's your point?" I asked. She seemed determined to get away, but she wasn't flying yet. "I bet you're thinking 'did he fire five shots or six' right now." She swallowed, and I saw she really was thinking that. "Well, you just ask yourself one more question, 'do I feel lucky?' Well? Do ya, punk?" She rushed at me and I fired, but I just hit her left wing, blasting it off but not close enough to her head to kill her. Before I could react she smashed into me and threw us both off of the cliff. I struggled, knowing there were branches I could use my Burning Lasso on, but she wouldn't move away, and she was hitting me with her wing. 'Enough of this!' I focused energy into the barrel and put it to her head, making her laugh._

"_Y-you're out of bullets now!" She cried. I couldn't stop my smirk._

"_Badda-Boom Shot." I said darkly. She gasped as I pulled the trigger, and a crimson burst of flame cleared both sides of her head. I quickly threw her aside and formed the flaming rope. "Burning Lasso!" I threw it and caught a long rock, pulling the loop around it quickly, and I managed to catch my feet against the wall, but I heard a loud thud. I looked back to see I had landed against the wall not three feet from the ground. "No way." I laughed as I holstered my revolver and Tsukaimon's body vanished into code. I was tired, but thankfully alive. As I let go of the rope I heard a loud buzzing and looked around, and it hit me._  
>…<p>

I opened my eyes as I sat up from my hammock and looked around as Arthur grabbed his alarm clock and switched the function off. I yawned as I dropped to the ground and stretched. Arthur just groaned loudly.

"I don't wanna go to school today!" He said pitifully. I walked over to his bed, knowing full well what his mother would do if she saw him like this. Grabbing the blanket I jumped pack and pulled it off of him, making him put his pillow on the back of his head. "Leave me alone Mao, I'm tired."

"Come on Artie boy." I said cheerfully. I climbed up onto a window ledge and looked out with a smile. "It's a beautiful day out." He groaned.

"For you or for me?" He asked. I laughed. It was dark out, very cloudy, with strong winds and a very high chance of rain.

"Point taken." I said. Jumping down, he got up and put his feet on the ground, rubbing his face. He got up and went to his bathroom as I walked over to my personal stand and grabbed my belt and put it on.

"Mao, did I dream about dinner last night?" He asked. "I, fell asleep on the couch, right?"

"About those guys from the agency?" I asked. He sighed heavily as I grabbed my revolver and looked at it before holstering it. "Sorry, but they were here." He turned on the sink and I heard him splash his face a few times before turning it off.

"And they really, offered us jobs?" He asked.

"That's how I remember it." I said. I walked over to the door and reached up to turn the handle. "They offered us a beginning level job in a new team."

"This is unreal." He said. "I… I need some time to think about it." I opened the door and turned as he walked out.

"Take all the time you need." I said. "But first, today is that thing in one of your classes where you're supposed to bring something interesting to talk about, right?" He put his hands to his head.

"Oh no, I forgot all about that!" He said quickly. "I don't have anything to take to show them!" I laughed as I turned, but he suddenly picked me up.

"Hey!" I said. "What's going on here?"

"Mao, I need a favor." He said thoughtfully.

"Arthur, I have a gun." I said. "They wouldn't let me in."

"I'll have you check it in." He said. "I'll talk to the principal before school starts, and he'll hold it for you." I squirmed. "If not, I'll give it to mom to hold onto for the rest of the day." He walked us out of the room and I gave up on getting loose as he jogged down the stairs.

"And you're carrying me, because…" I asked. He stopped at the door and set me down.

"Sorry, but this is kind of something I've been hoping on for a while." He said. "Come on, please, I kept telling everyone that I'm a Tamer, but they just won't believe me. I've got pictures, but they say I photo-shopped you in." I sighed.

"Fine." I said. "I'll help how I can." We walked into the kitchen and saw breakfast on the table, on hotplates to keep them warm, and a note. He walked over as I climbed onto my chair. "What does it say?"

"Let's see…" He said quietly. He picked the note up while I grabbed my plate and set it down, licking my lips.

"Sausage, an omelet, and hash browns." I said. "Your mom is really good to us." I grabbed a fork as he sighed.

"She called the school ahead." He said. I looked at him as I ate one of the sausages. "She got permission for you to have your gun in the school." I lowered the fork. "How does she do this stuff? She's, psychic, clairvoyant, something. You have to keep it unloaded and I have to hold your special bullets in my backpack, and it can't leave my person… You can't point it around at all. It stays in the holster until I show you to the others, and you're to participate in each class of the day somehow." I shrugged and continued eating, happily. "And, the reason she left the note is because I have to drive us to school. She had to take Kelly to an early class and won't make it back in time. After we're done, I want to get in early. I want to get into my art class so I can sign up for something." I nodded and began working on a cup of hot cocoa that was sitting on a hotplate. "Let's hurry." I shook my head and set it down.

"Not with your mom's cooking." I said. "Food this good _needs_ to be enjoyed." He laughed. "I'm not speeding up for anything." I noticed a covered plate and opened it, and licked my lips again. "Then again, I think your mom wanted me to." He laughed.

"Tiramisu." He said.

"The _one_ thing that'll make me eat fast." I said.  
>…<p>

I looked at the clay in front of me and thought for a few moments. Just this class and then it was the last class of the day, the one where I would be presented. The idea behind this was that we were supposed to make the clay into the shape of something familiar, and then paint it. Apparently I would come back if I finished it, or take some tools home and paint to finish it, and then bring it in, and I would then talk about it and what it meant to me.

'What should I make this?' I thought. My dream came back to me and I grabbed a small knife and began carving it. Luckily it was about big enough for my plan. 'Yes, that should do just fine.' Luckily my memory was great, so I could easily make the clay into whatever form I wanted with the equal dexterity I commanded.

"So, Mao, what are you going to make?" He asked. I carved it in a specific curved, carefully.

"Something familiar." I said. "Had a dream about it this morning."

"Man, that memory of yours is amazing." He said. I nodded as I carefully worked the shapes I wanted near the head. I was fast, something that came with being a Digimon, and combined with my dexterity I could make this exactly what I wanted.

"Such speed and technique." The Teacher, 'Mr. K.' said. "You're quite good. Perhaps I could enroll you as my aide." I smiled a little.

"I think that might be a bad idea." I said. "So many ways to play practical jokes in here…" He laughed as I moved along the back end.

"May I ask what it is now, or is it a surprise?" He asked after a moment.

"A surprise." I said. "Even Arthur won't know what it is until I tell why I made it." I moved it along a specific path and began carving it out as Mr. K. walked away.

"Is that, a Patamon?" Arthur asked.

"Nope." I said. "Similar though." He laughed as I worked on the edges of the wings. "You know, the structure of a Patamon's wing is actually different than this one?"

"Really?" He asked. He was interested, genuinely. I knew this kind of stuff mostly because I paid attention. I pointed at the tips.

"Patamon wings are a little narrower." I said. "Just a little, but it does affect how well they fly. These wings, also have denser membranes, and are connected by slightly thicker bones. Here." I tapped near the spot carefully. "In full size, a fifth of an inch makes up the physical difference." He made a musing sound.

"Any other clues?" He asked.

"They're a little lighter despite the size difference." I said. "You'll know when I get the paint. Just don't spoil it for the others." I carefully made the sides to the right size, and then began working on the face. "Do you think I can get this class though? I like this. It's fun." He laughed quietly and I carefully turned the clay and thought about the image in my head. "Hmmm… With, or without… Would it be more interesting if I use the early part of my story, or the later end?"

"Does that mean I get to know what it is?" He asked.

"Later." I said. I shrugged and focused on a specific point. Remembering bad dreams was irritating, but for this class, it was okay. It would make for a decent story, and it might feel good to get it off of my chest. Just the story of 'taking down' the DemiDevimon and shooting the wing off of the Tsukaimon and falling down a cliff, only to snag a rock with just a few feet to spare before death. "The later part. More fitting, less to work on." As I worked, I carefully cut the wing away and finished the bottom portion of it when I raised my head quickly. "Arthur…"

"I know, I can…" He started. He was interrupted by his phone vibrating.

"Arthur, what can you, whatever you were going to do?" Mr. K. asked.

"Digimon Bio-Emerging." I said. Arthur answered the phone. "We might have to leave…"

"Y-yeah, I'll stay back then." Arthur said. "Okay… Th-thank you."

"Who was it?" I asked as he closed the phone.

"The Digital Guardian Agency." He said. "They're sending a guy, new guy, didn't get his name. He's got an Ultimate level Digimon who can handle the problem, a pair of BlackGreymon, nothing big." He ran his fingers through his hair before putting his phone away.

"How did they know you were planning to go?" Mr. K. asked. I just went back to work.

"They know some Tamers go to Bio-Emerging Digimon." Arthur said. "That's why the DGA was formed, because of people like, well, me, with Digimon like Mao." I nodded.

"Yesterday we took down a very angry Tyrannomon." I said. "An Agent of the DGA decided to step in, and they offered us a job last night. I guess, that's why they have Arthur's number." I tilted my head as I carefully worked on the underside.

"Well, I'm glad you'll be staying." Mr. K. said. "And I must say, the level of detail on your little sculpture is amazing, but why did you remove the ear?"

"Wing actually." I said. "I'll explain with the story that goes with her." I finished the last of it and nodded. "And now I just need some paint… Blue and white, and a little bit of red." I got off of my chair as Mr. K. laughed and guided me to the paint area. I jumped onto a small chair and looked for the specific shade. "Wow. You are well equipped for any painting situation." I took a small dark blue, a bright white, and a decent red.

"You'll need a good brush." He said, handing me a set.

"Thank you." I said. He nodded.

"Tomorrow, I'll be waiting for that story." He said. I nodded.

"I won't forget it." I said. "It's why I'm in this world and not the Dark Area of the Digital World." I got down and went back to the table, jumping up and setting the paint down while Arthur continued working. "Slow going?"

"I'm trying to make, a specific object." He said. "One that even you, will never guess."

"Buraimon." I said. He lowered his clay. "You've got a steep angle on the hat, and the cut was over the left eye. His sword was just a little shorter as well." He looked at me. "Hat, swords, we saw him _yesterday_." He laughed and went back to it as I began putting the paint onto a piece of paper.

"Wait, is that…" He started. I just nodded. "From the dream?" I nodded again. "You'll tell the class tomorrow?"

"It's a good story." I said. "Mr. K. said to go with the first thought that came to mind, she was the first thought that came to mine."  
>…<p>

I leaned back as Arthur worked things out over the phone with the DGA. He wanted to come in after school, and we were just waiting on our turn. He was allowed since it was a 'job opportunity', and I told him I'd go with whatever he wanted to go with. So far he just wanted to see what it was all about, sort of look things over and make sure we knew what we were getting into.

"Mr. Rowe, are you ready?" The teacher, Miss Li, asked. Arthur shook his head and I got up and stretched as he closed the phone.

"I'm sorry, I…" He started.

"Just come up." She said. We walked up to the front as he put his phone away. "I believe all money for the bets should come forward now. Seeing as _I_ was the only one who bet that he was telling the truth." As we got to the front, a large amount of money made its way forward. "That is two hundred dollars. Lucky me." Arthur seemed confused as she split the money and handed half of it to him. "And here is their formal apology." He slowly took it and looked at me as I shrugged.

"Don't look at me." I said. "I'm not enrolled here." He put the money away and cleared his throat.

"So, uh, this is Mao, my partner." He said, looking at the class. I climbed up on the table and sat down. "As you can see, he's a Digimon, specifically a GunImpmon. I'm not sure if there are others like him, but, if there aren't, I've got the coolest Rookie ever." There was quiet laughter. "And this is my Digivice, or, as I call it, the Digi-Optimizer."

"How does it work?" A girl asked.

"Well, I take this stylus…" He replied, taking it out. "And I use this screen, and move data from one part of his body to another to make him faster or stronger." I stood up and felt my legs weakening slowly as I flexed my arms. The muscles slowly grew and the class murmured quietly. "I can only move so much at a time, but this lets Mao keep up with fast enemies, grapple with strong ones, or just pack one very mean punch." I flexed just my right arm as it grew to nearly twice the normal size, and I gave a toothy grin as my body returned to normal. "It also lets me make sure I know every single move he can use. That, we can't demonstrate, but I can explain if anyone wants."

"What kind of attacks does he have?" The girl asked.

"Can he fly?" Another asked.

"Can he Digivolve?" A boy asked.

"Uh, let's go with the flying thing first." He said. "He can't, yet. And he can't Digivolve yet, nor do we have any idea if he can at all, or what he might be able to become. As for attacks, he's got a good few." He cleared his throat. "His most used one though is a variation of one used by normal Impmon. It's called Badda-Boom." I held my index finger out like a gun. "Most Impmon form a little fireball at their finger and just flick it out. Slow, but does the job of hurting an enemy. Mao uses what he calls the Badda-Boom Shot. He holds his hand like so…" I turned to face the side so they could see. "And moves his thumb like the hammer of a pistol. The fireball is hotter, flies much faster, and has force behind it that can actually knock unprepared or weaker Digimon on their backs easily." I turned back. "Then there's his favorite, the Imp Kick. He lights his foot on fire and then kicks his enemy in the face or chest, or in the butt if he can get behind them." The class laughed. "But the coolest attack, in my opinion, is his Blazing Lasso. He makes a line of flame with a loop at the end, and just like a rope lasso, he catches his enemy with it and holds them in place." I pantomimed using a lasso. "Recently, he held the mouth of a Tyrannomon shut to wear it down before another Tamer came by…"

"Hold on, Tyrannomon is a Champion." A boy said quickly. "He's a Rookie, right?"

"True, but he's a powerful Rookie." Arthur said. "We've faced a few Champions, and we've beaten them on our own. The only reason we were having trouble was because we couldn't surprise it. I've got proof." He tapped in a few commands on the wrist keyboard and beckoned the boy forward, and he held out the screen. "This is the data we gathered from defeating it the other day. The Digi-Optimizer scans opponents for weak points, but it also records the battles." I looked over and saw my dodging skills at work.

"Blazing Lasso!" My voice called from the device, but also from a nearby TV. I looked up as the lasso wrapped around the muzzle of the red dinosaur.

"We had a bit of help, in about…" Arthur started. I counted the seconds down until… "There he is."

"Buraimon, aid the gunmon!" The man called. Buraimon rushed forward quickly. "Give it a good one!" Buraimon approached rapidly and drew his sword.


	3. A Potential Job, A New Friend

**There seems to be very little traffic to this story, and it's kind of disheartening, but I'll keep posting until about a fifth chapter. After that though I'll probably give up. After all, what's the point of posting a story if there's no one to read it? Two chapters, just short of three weeks, and there have been somewhat over thirty readers. I know Digimon fandom may not be what it used to be, but if this story really isn't all that good, please say something! I exactly improve without feedback now, can I? Leave a review, tell me how I'm doing, let me know if this story is worth keeping or if I should just shut it down before I bother getting invested and hopeful that this will be a good story.**

**Disclaimer: I, Lord Genesis Shadow, do hereby state that I do not own the rights to Digimon. And if this story doesn't pick up at least a few reviews soon, I'm probably going to take it down.  
>…<strong>

I looked around as I walked into the training area of the Agency. Arthur was talking to the senior agents, and I was told I could look around. There wasn't much to do thus far, but I was happy to see so many Digimon around. I couldn't help but smile that so many Digimon had partners, and that they had all decided to protect the city, maybe even the whole state if there was a real need for it.

"Hey, check it out." A female voice whispered. "Is that an Impmon?"

"Maybe." A male said quietly. "But he doesn't have the smiley tattoo on his stomach… And he's wearing a gunbelt."

"Do you think the gun is real?" She asked quickly. I stopped by a board and looked up, jumping onto a chair to read it properly.

'Baseball team?' I thought. I laughed quietly. 'Arthur might join that. He's a decent pitcher.' I looked for something else interesting, but they were just notices about various things. One of which was a notice of a lost cat.

"He's definitely got a Tamer, otherwise he wouldn't be here." Another said quietly. "Or, maybe he's waiting for us to find him one."

'Huh, reward for a lost bike.' I thought. 'Cool. We'll watch out for it.'

"Ah, you must be Mr. Rowe's partner." A deep voice with a light French accent asked. I turned and was face to, midsection, with a very muscular man. I looked up and he held his arm out, and I realized he wanted me to jump up onto it. I did so and he laughed quietly as he raised me to eye level. He held out his right hand to me and I reached over to it with my own. "I am Percival Canterbury, but please, call me Percy." He wore silver wireframe glasses, a light gray button up shirt with a dark gray suit jacket, and a navy tie. His eyes were green, and he had short brown hair combed back.

"Mao." I said. "I guess, that'll do." He laughed as he walked out of the room. "You know about Arthur?"

"He's still talking to the chief for now." He said. "I walked by the room and the chief asked me if I could show you around a little. We'll start with the break room, since I need to get a drink for my partner." He reached up a little more and I jumped onto his shoulder, sitting down carefully. He was over six and a half feet tall, very muscular, and broad shouldered. He was a walking mountain compared to me. "How do you like the agency headquarters so far?"

"It's nice." I said. "Plenty of room, a lot of people dedicated to protecting the world from bad Digimon, and I think I saw a shooting range." He laughed.

"I've heard about you." He said. "An Impmon with a gun and a lasso, and even étoile de shérif." I laughed quietly. "And I heard about that Tyrannomon the other day. The agent you saw had a video of it from very near the start, about from the first time you fired your revolver. Good shooting by the way."

"Not good enough." I said. "I should have gotten it in the head from the first round." He smiled.

"Good." He said. "You know that you could do better. That is a good thing to always know." I looked ahead as he walked into a room with tables and vending machines, and even a large kitchen area in the back, with a pair of refrigerators. He walked over to a vending machine and carefully grabbed me and set me down on the counter by the soda vending machine. "Do you think you'd be okay working here? It isn't an easy job. Always on call, and most of the time they may call up in the milieu de la nuit, the middle of the night. That's when Digimon Bio-emerge most often. Je ne sais pas pourquoi. I am not sure why."

"It's generally not our intent." I said. "When we Bio-emerge, we don't know what time it will be, or where we'll show up. The portal I went through ended up with me appearing in a school computer room in the late afternoon. If I'd gone through a few hours later from the Digital World, it might have been a half hour later. Time is different from one world to another." He put a few quarters in and pressed a button. "If we could pick the time we emerged, it'd be based on what time we prefer. I'd have gone for early at night, maybe late morning, but things turned out for the best." He nodded as he put in more quarters.

"My partner arrived in the middle of the morning." He said. "In my father's computer room. That was, six years ago. I'd just graduated, and had no intention of being a Digimon Tamer, but the night before, I found this blue card." He pulled said card from his jacket pocket as he pressed another button on the machine. "I wondered what it was until I slid it through a card reader I had attached to my father's computer. It turned into a D-arc, and about an hour later, the computer just started glowing, and there he was." He put the card away and knelt, grabbing the soda cans. He stayed there so I jumped onto his shoulder, just as he started standing. "Two years, we couldn't do much but act as backup, and though appreciated, we got in the way more than anything." He started walking again. "But then he was able to become a Champion, and it gave us a chance to really do some good. We trained every day we could, went to every Bio-emerging Digimon we could get to, until around a few months ago, when we were asked to join the DGA."

"What kind of Digimon is your partner?" I asked.

"You will see in a few moments." He said. "I hope Mr. Rowe really considers joining the DGA. I hear that there is a law in the works regarding 'freelance' Tamers. He would have to get a license in order to continue running to every Bio-emerging that you detect."

"I hadn't heard about that." I said.

"No doubt the chief will be telling him about it by now." He said. He walked up to an open door and walked in. "Scott, I've got your drink." I heard something moving, and a quiet groan of effort. "Scott?" He set the cans down and walked over to a covered bunk and laughed. I looked over and saw a small face poking out of a set of sheets. "Stuck again?"

"Not my fault." The Digimon said. It was a Patamon. I fought a laugh as he struggled. His head was free, but his wings were stuck. "I don't even know how this happened!" Percy laughed as I jumped over. "H-hey, what's this?"

"This is Mao, the Impmon from the video." He replied. I walked over and looked at the sheets until I found an edge, and I started pulling it to get Scott free. "His partner is talking to the chief right now. I think we might be making a new friend, maybe even a teammate." Scott moved his wing and hit me in the jaw, making me grunt.

"Sorry." He said.

"It's okay." I said. "It happens." I pulled the rest of the blanket for a moment before I sighed. "Okay, plan b. I'm going to roll you over a few times. That should get you out of this." He nodded and I rolled him a few times until he moved onto his legs. I held out my hand. "So, I'm Mao. Nice to meet you." He put his wing in my palm.

"Likewise." He said. "You know my name, I guess, thanks to Percival." I nodded as he moved wing.  
>…<p>

"Hey partner." I said. Arthur looked over as Percy walked over. Scott was on his left shoulder and I was on his arm. Arthur was just walking out of the chief's office.

"Uh, hi." He said. Percy held out his right hand.

"I'm Percival." He said. "I've heard a bit about you. You are responsible for defeating quite a few dangerous Digimon." Arthur shook his hand nervously as Percy nodded to Scott. "This is my partner, Scott." Scott moved his wing.

"Hello." He said. "It's nice to meet you." I jumped down and stretched.

"How did your meeting go with the chief?" Percy asked.

"He, uh, offered me a job, and, I said I'd think about it." Arthur said. "I'm not sure yet, but, I'm glad he thinks I've got what it takes."

"It looks like a good job to me." I said.

"Y-yeah." Arthur said. "I saw the contract, and, it's… More than fair." He laughed. "Fifty six thousand dollars a year fair." I raised my eyebrows.

"That's pretty fair." I said.

"And that's just the starting salary." Percy said. "Due to the dangerous nature, each battle we must go through gives us hazard pay, which really adds up. I've been here a month and I've made a thousand dollars in that alone, in only four fights." Arthur cleared his throat.

"And, they have a separate contract for you, Mao." Arthur said. "Not quite as fair as mine, but for you, you don't have to worry about taxes and that kind of stuff. You just, get your money and, do what you want."

"Did they say how much?" I asked.

"No, but the chief wants to talk to you while I, uh, have a look around." He said. Percy laughed and put his hand on Arthur's shoulder.

"I'll show you around." He said. "Us new guys, we have to stick to together, oui?" Arthur nodded and followed as I walked into the room. The chief was looking at something when he looked up at me. He was in his mid forties or so, clean shaven with dark red hair and green eyes. He had a pair of reading glasses on and was wearing a dark blue suit.

"Hey." He said. "Come on in, Mao. I thought it'd take Arthur at least a few minutes to find you." I walked in and jumped onto the chair in front of his desk. "As Arthur no doubt told you, I'm offering a decent starting salary, and I'm also hoping that you'll sign a contract, though I'll need Arthur to sign on as well, or it would be somewhat difficult, seeing as you use a, unique Digivice."

"So, you haven't heard about another Optimizer?" I asked.

"No, we haven't." He said. "It's the first we've heard of it, and Arthur has agreed to let us look at it. We just want a quick scan, a look inside, see how it all works. Strictly looking though, nothing that'd risk it shorting out and making you a wild Digimon again." He moved a few papers aside.

"He'll definitely think about it." I said. "He's been looking for a job lately, so I doubt he'll pass up a possible career that pays like this. And Percy said that the hazard pay is regular." He nodded.

"Both Mr. Canterbury and Scott get paid for that." He said. "We've got a lot of funding, so we can afford to be liberal with extra pay like that. Of course, there will be a lot of calls, and if we call in the middle of the night, you can't exactly just stay back. We're demanding, but it's for the safety of the city. Though that's our only jurisdiction so far. We aren't statewide until we have enough agents. We have to have a lot of freelance tamers helping us, and they get the hazard pay and a little extra." He pushed a piece of paper forward. "This is your contract. I hope it's fair for you." I stood up and looked at the contract for a few seconds. My eyes immediately went to the money.

"Twenty thousand…" I said quietly.

"The most we can legally give a Digimon to start with." He said. "But there are fewer taxes to deal with, and there's less Digimon generally need to worry about paying for." I nodded as I looked it over. "We have full insurance for anything, and onsite medical personnel for just about everything." I got to the end and thought for a few moments about how Arthur's mother would feel.

"I hope Arthur's mom will be okay with this, if he decides to join." I said. "If he does, I'll sign on, just to keep an eye on him." He laughed as I handed him the contract.

"I just have one question." He said. I let go of the paper. "Arthur says you're not a normal Impmon. Said you're a subtype. Would you let me take a quick scan to confirm that?" He held up a D-arc, an orange yellow one. I just nodded and he turned it so that a small lens was looking at me. "Okay, let's see." It beeped a few times and he raised his eyebrow. "Unknown Digimon. The D-arc doesn't recognize you. It does know you're a Virus type, but there's no other information." I scratched my head. "The Optimizer did say GunImpmon, and there was a lot more information. I guess you're unique." I sighed.

"I was hoping to find out if there were others like me." I said. "I guess I may actually be one of a kind."

"Maybe." He said. "Maybe not. There are all kinds of Digimon. Maybe there are others like you somewhere in the Digital World."

"Just not in the Dark Area." I said quietly. "That's where I lived for my whole life, up until last year."  
>…<p>

I held the controller while Kelly giggled. I grinned as I made my character's kart go around the corner, tailing her by only a few feet. She laughed as I got closer, and she hit the weapon cube, and suddenly I was airborne. She had gotten the red shells. I opened my mouth as another kart passed me, but I smirked again.

"Oh yeah, turtle boy?" I said quietly. I drove through the recently re-spawned cube, and I laughed. "Aha. The blue shell." Kelly laughed as the turtle passed her, and I fired the shell. She fired the red shell to slow him and I drove near her as the blue shell hit the turtle. We kept going until we were side by side, and we passed the finish line at the same time. "Not bad Kelly, but I think I have this one by a fraction of a second." She giggled until the score came up, and my mouth dropped. She won by a thousandth of a second. "Okay, so I was wrong."

"That was fun." She said. "You almost had me." I nodded and sighed as Arthur walked in.

"Dinner's ready." He said. "Come on you two." Kelly got off of the couch and walked to the kitchen while I walked over to the machine and turned it off. As I walked into the kitchen, I saw Arthur helping Kelly into her chair. I jumped onto my own as he sat down. "So, who won?"

"I did." Kelly said proudly.

"By a thousandth of a second." I said, also proudly. "I got a little overconfident, tailgated her, and paid for it by a red shell." He laughed as his mother sat down, smiling.

"I'm glad you both had fun." She said.

"Me too." Arthur said. I looked at the mashed potatoes in front of me and smiled as I grabbed my spoon. There was also a very delicious looking piece of roast beef next to it. "Um, a-about that, job offer."

"Yes?" Mara asked.

"It looks like, it'll pay pretty good." He said. "Fifty six a year, with, pretty generous hazard pay, which we get if we have to, well, do what we usually do." She nodded. "Mao gets paid too, and he gets hazard pay as well. It won't be easy, but, I, I think I should take it." She looked at him with a warm smile as I ate my potatoes.

"Okay." She said. "I know you'll be careful." I looked up to see Arthur looking confused. "What? I know you'll stay out of danger, and Mao won't let you get into any trouble. It won't do me any good to worry about you when I know you'll be okay."

"Arthur's strong." Kelly said happily. I raised my spoon.

"Seconded." I said. Arthur laughed.

"Just promise me you'll make a friend or two." Mara said. "So far, it's just you and Mao. I'd like to know my son has more friends than just his partner." I laughed as I went back to the potatoes. I was a fan of everything she cooked, especially when she had gravy made from scratch, and this was one of those times. "After all, what fun can you have when you've only got one friend who is half your height?" He laughed as he started on his own potatoes. "Thinking of that, did you meet anyone you think you might get along with?"

"Uh, yeah." He said. "A man named Percy. He's… Uh…" He moved his hand in a circle so I swallowed my current spoonful as he tried to think of a word.

"Big." I said. Arthur nodded. "About, six foot, seven inches I think. A lot of muscle, but he's pretty smart."

"He's a Tamer, too." Arthur said. "His partner is a Patamon named Scott. They've been working together for six years, but, I think Mao could beat Scott, even as an Angemon." Mara and Kelly laughed as I shrugged.

"If I got the drop on him." I said. "Just because I can take out a Champion with one bullet doesn't mean I'd always win. I'm still just a Rookie after all, and Angemon are very fast." He laughed.

"I know you'd still win." He said. "But, I really think this job is right for us. We'll work well together, right?" I nodded. "And, he said we'd be part of a team. It'll be the two of us, and at least one other Tamer and his or her Digimon. We'll be fine."

"So you'll make at least two more friends then." Mara said. We both laughed as she smiled. "Good. I want you to make as many friends as you can. I don't want to get a report that you don't work well with others."  
>…<p>

_I walked through the gulley, thinking about my path in life. I'd been in a lot of fights lately, and there was seemingly no reason for it all. Sure, I was strange for being so different, but when even other Virus types were attacking me without warning or explanation, it was more than I could really wrap my head around. Tsukaimon was a good example, though she did explain, and it was obvious she wanted to try to use me and then let me take the fall. But there were as many as three Digimon that wanted to try to kill me each week. So many pointless deaths, for what? Did they want my data? That's why I was a freak in their eyes. My revolver? It was keyed to my data, so if I died, they couldn't use it, and they didn't want my data. There was just no point, as far as I could see, but they kept attacking._

'_It's getting to the point where I hardly have time to find food.' I thought. 'I have to get to somewhere safe…' I kept walking when I heard a noise, so I drew my revolver and turned to look around. 'What else could be out here tonight?'_

"_Such a powerful little imp." A female voice said I turned a little more and heard wings, at least six. Three Digimon? One? An Angel Digimon? More Tsukaimon and DemiDevimon? What else could be ready to attack me now? "You were very lucky, or skilled, to survive such a fall." I looked around as the voice echoed. "Looking for someplace safe?" I listened and heard the wings again, but this time it was clear. There were only two. They sounded too big to be a Tsukaimon, and definitely not an Angel Digimon. I turned just a little more and saw her, a Lady Devimon. "Surprised?"_

"_Not really." I said tiredly. "Wings, echoes, and secrecy to confuse… Makes sense I'd attract an Ultimate level Devil. But, what do you want from me?" She smiled._

"_Nothing." She said. "You defeated the Digimon I sent to test you." I somewhat lowered my revolver. "Ah yes, such a lovely weapon. Very, what is that word you like to use? Reliable."_

"_I've had this revolver since I…" I started._

"_Digivolved from a Tin Yaamon." She said sweetly. "Let's just say, I'm doing you a favor, and I'll ask for a little one in return later." She held her normal hand over her heart. "Devil's honor." I pulled the hammer back halfway. "Please, you couldn't kill me."_

"_I could ruin one of your legs." I said. "Or your arm." She giggled and vanished, but I spun and pointed the revolver at her head, making her smile. "At this range, death is a definite possibility." She vanished and I pointed at her again, at her chest, her heart. "What do you want?"_

"_I want you, to go to the human world." She said. I stared and lowered the revolver completely. "I can take you to a place that will send you exactly where you need to be."_

"_What, do, you, want?" I repeated. "You wouldn't do this without wanting something from me right away. No way going to the human world is in your personal interests, not unless you've got something else planned." She giggled again._

"_Well, I would like to know, what you have named your revolver." She said. "That is something no one has been able to tell me. Go to the human world, and tell me the name of that, surprisingly normal looking revolver that has claimed the lives of so many fools." I slowly let the hammer go back to the safe position and holstered it._

"_That's really it." I said cautiously. She smiled. "Forgive me if I don't believe you." She laughed quietly. "Try to trick me, you're walking funny for the rest of your life, if you can even keep the leg at all." She gestured and I returned it, knowing it best to be safe rather than deleted. She laughed and walked toward a nearby treeline, and I felt some kind of strange energy in the air. I couldn't explain it, but it felt, different than what I was used to. After a good five minutes of walking she pushed a branch aside to reveal a small portal._

"_I made this specifically for you." She said. "Once you use it, it will vanish unless I recreate it, though hopefully I won't have to. Go to the human world, find a Tamer, and live an easier life where no one will be after for, whatever they want from you. That is another thing about you I know nothing about. I'll try to find that out later though." I walked past her, but I never turned away, keeping her in front of me the whole time. When I felt the portal's gentle pull, she walked by it and giggled. "So, what is the name of that, oddly lovely revolver of yours?" I drew it and spun it for a second before putting the barrel on my shoulder._

"_This, is Baffle." I said. "You'll never know where the next bullet will go, until it's just a second or so too late."_


	4. A Story at School, Taking the Job

**This chapter is primarily for character development, but it serves to advance the story a ways, and introduce more information about the Optimizer. It's a tricky device, but once even basic understanding is achieved, it turns the Digimon tied to it (Mao) into a much more dangerous contender.**

**This chapter is brought to you courtesy of MitzvahRose, the first reviewer. Thanks are in order, so… Thank you MitzvahRose for liking this story. The rest of you, thanks as well, but not quite as much. Not enough I'm going to start handing out free cookies or dedicate chapters to all of you, but still, thanks.**

**You might notice I'm doing this stuff betaless lately. This is because my beta writers are busy with their lives and I'm not the type to try to say that my time is so important that it needs to be taken care of as I ask it so. No, I'm a patient Demon, so I will wait until they have some free time they don't mind letting me take up with my stuff. Otherwise, I'm on my own. That said, TomA62975 is an artist on DeviantArt. Look at his work if you'd like. He's very good (In this Demon's humble opinion), and has created a picture involving my little buddy, Peewee the Kiwi. *Small reddish brown Kiwi walks over and squeaks as he waves with his foot* Now, onto the Disclaimer.**

**Disclaimer: I, Lord Genesis Shadow, do hereby state that I do not own the rights to Digimon. I own the laptop and have passable knowledge of the subject, and I like it enough that I'm willing to do research and come up with stuff like this. If, for some reason, the actual owners of the rights to Digimon want to use my characters for a new series and use this as the basis for the plot and/or Manga, I'll be happy to lend a hand now and then if you'd like. It won't happen, but hey, it never hurts to try, right?  
>…<strong>

"_My, what a handsome Devimon you are." One of the three Rosemon said kindly. I smiled as she and her friends moved closer. I moved my arms around two of them as she leaned up to me, her hands on my bare chest. "Do you, have it in your heart to, take care of all three of us tonight?"_

"_I'll certainly do my best." I said softly. "I don't like seeing lovely ladies disappointed." They giggled together as she leaned a little closer, when something started buzzing. I groaned disappointedly. "Maybe next time, ladies."_  
>…<p>

I sat up slowly and sighed heavily as Arthur turned off his alarm. I dropped down to the floor as he put his pillow over his head.

"I hate your alarm clock." I said tiredly.

"I hate waking up." He said through the pillow.

"Well, were you having a dream like mine?" I asked. I walked over and yanked his covers off of him. "Three Rosemon, and I was a Devimon." He laughed. "Things were going great, and then that, confounded clock pulls me away." He sat up. "Rosemon. You know what they look like? They're, just beautiful. Mega level, and I was just a Champion!" He got up and walked into the bathroom while I grabbed my revolver. "Next time I'm going to unplug that thing, and I'm going to hide it!" He laughed as I sighed.

"Well, I was just dreaming about, the job…" He said, yawning at the end. "This, cute girl with a, an accent I can't quite remember…" He laughed. "I wish she was real. She'd be a great, eh, friend." I laughed quietly as I opened the door. I heard him changing as I walked out.

"I'm going to see if we're walking again." I said. He laughed as I walked down the hall. I walked down the steps and smelled something cooking, and I heard it too. I made the last step with a careful jump, landing silently.

"Mao, please don't jump the last step." Mara said. I lowered my head.

"How do you always know?" I asked. She laughed as I walked into the kitchen.

"I can feel the floor shake a little bit." She said. "You're light, but not that light." I laughed as I walked in and got up onto my usual chair. "I took Kelly in early so she could play with her friends. Is Arthur up yet?"

"I hate his alarm clock." I said. "I was having a good dream for once, and it's gone with a… Bzzzzz." She laughed as she set a plate of scrambled eggs and bacon in front of me.

"Arthur needs to get in early." She said. "And you're going with him again. You have that sculpture to talk about." I nodded as I grabbed the fork. "You know, I'm still amazed how dexterous you are. You have three fingers, and you can still hold a fork better than my son." I laughed quietly as I looked at my hands. "_And_ you're a gunman. Excuse me, gun_mon._" I smiled as I heard Arthur walking down the stairs. "Don't jump Arthur. Mao tried, and failed to sneak it past me." He walked in and I laughed as he sat down. "Hurry up now. I want to make sure you get in early to talk to the principal about your new job. If you have to leave on a job, he needs to get the calls before you do so he won't bother _me_ later." He nodded as she set a cup of coffee in front of him, and a cup of tea for herself while I reached for my glass of milk. "You too, Mao. We have to hurry." I nodded.

"I'll make an exception this time." I said. She laughed as I drank a third of the glass.  
>…<p>

"So, Mao, I think it's your turn." Mr. K. said. I walked up to the front and set the small sculpture on the table before I climbed onto the chair, and then onto the table. "So, you've created a, blue Patamon?"

"Actually, it's called Tsukaimon." I said. "The day before I came to this world, I was in a place called the Dark Area, and I was resting at the edge of a cliff after a long day of training. A Tsukaimon came up behind me with a group of DemiDevimon, and they wanted me to break into a vault and steal some money from a Myotismon." I picked up the sculpture. "After refusing several times, she had them try to attack me, so I retaliated by shooting them all. I scared her, I guess, so she decided to attack me." I pointed to the wing. "I shot at her as she ran at me, but I just shot her wing off." I set it down carefully. "But she still tackled me and sent me over the edge, and I'd fired all six rounds from my revolver. She was trying to make sure she took me out, but I had the luck of being able to channel a fireball through the barrel. I finished her with it, caught a rock with my Blazing Lasso attack." I held my hand up with both fingers and my thumb held up. "Three feet from the ground." The class laughed. "One more second, and I wouldn't be here right now."

"That's quite the story." Mr. K said. "Does anyone have any questions?" I sat on the edge of the table and a girl raised her hand.

"What exactly brought you here?" She asked. I shrugged.

"Well, before that day I was being attacked, and I never did find out why." I said. "I was given a way to this world, so I figured I'd take a chance and try to avoid fighting for a few years… So far, I've been unsuccessful, and I'm going to work for the DGA…" I laughed with the class for a moment. "Arthur, remind me again why I'm still your partner." He laughed with us all, but the girl raised her hand again.

"But, what _exactly_ brought you here?" She asked. "Did you Bio-emerge like most Digimon do, or did you find a portal?"

"I made it to a portal." I said honestly. "It led to the computer classroom… It was the afternoon, and Arthur was helping the teacher move some things." I looked at her and saw that she wore a green jacket and a dark gray shirt, but her eyes were covered by brown hair. "We talked for a bit about where I was, and the next thing we know there's some strange light covering his arm." I pointed to Arthur as he held up the Optimizer. "That appeared, and it had a picture of me on it, so we figured, rightly so, that Arthur's my Tamer." She was quiet and no one else raised their hands, oddly enough.

"If there are no more questions?" Mr. K. asked. No one asked anything so I slid down to the floor.  
>…<p>

"Okay, now that we've got the paperwork out of the way." The chief said. He pulled something out of his desk and held them out. "Here are your badges." Arthur slowly took his while I stood up and leaned forward, putting one hand on the desk as I reached out with my other hand. I took the badge and moved back, looking at it. It looked like a modern police 'shield', made of polished brass, with the letters 'DGA' written in the center, and 'Digital Guardian Agency' along the top. "Memorize the badge numbers, and always keep them nearby. Never forget these." He leaned forward, so Arthur and I did as well. "They have GPS tracking chips in them, so that's another reason to keep them close." He moved back and pulled out his own, which was more ornate with silver lettering and a little more polish. "If you're ever in a scrape, press the DGA down and it'll activate an alert that'll tell us you need help and can't call in." He put his badge back and Arthur put his in his shirt pocket while I clipped mine to my belt.

"Thank you, sir." Arthur said. "We'll make sure to take care of them."

"Mine won't leave my belt unless I'm polishing it." I said. "I just hope I don't accidentally set off the alarm."

"You need to use a bit of force on it." He said. "I polish mine every night." He laughed quietly. "But that's enough about this. You should go meet your immediate superiors. Head over to the lab and meet them by the requisition office, pick up your basic gear, and get acquainted with the lab techs." He saluted, which we returned as Arthur stood up. I jumped off of the chair and we walked out. "Welcome to the DGA gentlemen." We walked out and turned down the hall, and I smiled as I put my hand on the badge.

"So, how do you feel?" Arthur asked. "You're a real officer of the law now." I smiled wider.

"I've been dreaming of a moment like this for a long time." I said. "Ever since I was a Tin Yaamon." He laughed.

"You dreamed about a lot as a Tin Yaamon." He said. "You've had Baffle since just after you left that stage." I grinned.

"Yup." I said. "And so far, things are looking up." We walked into the lab and toward a caged area, and I couldn't help but spot Percy standing by it with Scott on his shoulder. Scott looked back and I waved. He tapped Percy's shoulder and he turned.

"Hey, look who it is." He said cheerfully. "Arthur, Mao, it's good to see you, mes amis." Arthur laughed as he walked over and shook Percy's hand. "How have you been?"

"A little busy, at school, but we're great." He replied. "We, uh, we signed on after all." Percy laughed and Scott smiled as I jumped up and grabbed the table in front of the cage near the window and pulled myself up to see over it, though I didn't climb onto it. "We're supposed to meet our, immediate superiors here?"

"Ah, this is incredible; I am here to meet my new partner." He said. "I was told I would know him by his badge number." I looked over as Arthur pulled out his badge. "Yes, this is it. Seven, six, one. You are my new partner." He patted Arthur's shoulder, and Arthur just laughed. "I had a feeling about you two. The chief asked what I thought of you, and I told him you would make a good agent, and Mao looks powerful for a Recrue, a Rookie. I never would have thought he'd make you my partner." Arthur smiled as I looked back when a glass container was pushed forward onto the table by a young woman wearing glasses.

"Mr. Rowe?" She asked. I pointed my thumb over my shoulder and she giggled, reaching out and patting my head. "I know, silly Impmon." I smiled as she looked up, setting a clipboard down as I looked at the contents of the container. "If you'll just sign this, I can give you your basic equipment, and I'll be back with your battle gear."

"B-battle gear?" He asked. I saw a set of keys, a few cards, a smart phone, and two small headsets.

"Yes, just precautionary things in case a Digimon gets too close." She said. "I trust that this cute little Impmon will keep you safe, but just in case you need a little help, we want all of our Tamer teams to be safe and ready for anything." He signed as I took the cards out and looked at them. "So, here you, oh. Yes, that's a gas card. The keys are labeled, but one is to a vehicle that will be signed out in your name."

"A vehicle?" Arthur asked.

"Yes, because you have your driver's license." She said. "Mr. Canterbury doesn't drive." I looked over at him while Arthur looked up.

"I prefer to walk or ride my bicycle." Percy said. "I am not much of a driver. Some would call me 'Lead Sole Percy'. Once I press down on the gas, I just press it to the floor." He laughed. "And there are not many cars I can fit into easily." They both laughed as I looked at the card while the young woman cleared her throat.

"Continuing, the card is to pay for gas only." She said. "But you can use it for other vehicles you own or purchase. The other card is a keycard meant for your room."

"Room?" Arthur asked. She nodded as I looked at the smart phone.

"You have the option of staying here to rest." She said. "No cost to you as well, you can just stay here, with access to a washroom, as well as a personal locker to keep a few things you might want to have on hand. You don't have to worry about it, but it's good to have the option." Arthur nodded as she held out her hand, so I handed her the phone. "This is a pre-paid company smart phone, and it's completely yours. The plan is great, unlimited minutes, unlimited texting, camera, video, and unlimited internet. You don't need to worry about paying any bills, it's all taken care of." She handed it back to me and I looked at it. "And these headsets are for keeping _you_ away from the battles but still letting you stay in contact with your partner." She handed one to Arthur while I put the other one on my belt. "Part of your kit includes replacement batteries. They don't go through them very fast, but replace them as you need them, and remember that you can ask for more whenever you need them."

"Thanks." Arthur said. I handed him the phone and the woman nodded.

"Mr. Canterbury, would you let him know what's in the combat kit?" She asked. "I'll go and get it for him."

"Of course Melissa, take your time." He said. She giggled as she walked away with a smile. "So, your kit comes with some very useful stuff. Uh, do you have a firearm license?"

"N-no." Arthur said. "Mao does the shooting."

"Well, they'll get you a license later then." Percy said. "Standard procedure. Until then, we'll have to let Mao use it. Hope you don't mind a modern sidearm." I laughed.

"I'll use it if I have to." I said. "Save on reloading."

"That reminds me, how much do you spend on bullets?" Percy asked.

"Nothing." I said. "I make my own." I dropped down and held out my hand. "It's a technique unique to me, as far as I'm aware at least." I focused and lowered my voice to a hiss. "Shadow Reload." A single bullet appeared in my palm. Percy snapped his fingers.

"I forgot about that part." He said. "I saw that in the video." I let the bullet go and it disappeared as it fell. "So, apart from the pistol, a forty five, you will have a baton, a set of brass knuckles, and a stun gun. Not much, but it gets the job done. So far, I have not had to use any of it, but I am glad to have it." He opened his coat and gestured to a handgun. "So far, I have the fifth highest shooting score in the agency. I wish you good luck on your proficiency test." Arthur rubbed his head and I heard something being set down. "Ah, here it is. What I told you was your matériel de l'infraction, your offensive equipment. As you can see, there is a vest here, and it is quite tough. They had to special order one for me, and it is still being shipped. It is the best available." I looked up as Arthur slowly took the vest. "Bulletproof, stab-proof, and yet it is very lightweight. Your shoes will be specially grounded in case of electrical attacks, and there are a pair of glasses that will let you zoom in on the battle, as well as adjust to changing light conditions. Retour en haut de l'équipement de ligne, top of the line equipment." I jumped up again as a few magazines were put on the table.

"Did I hear that you don't have a license for a firearm yet?" Melissa asked. Arthur nodded. She held the handgun out to me. "Then don't let him have this until he has that license." I took it and looked it over as I dropped to the floor again. It was a decent model, a Springfield Armory with a red grip and a fourteen round magazine. It'd definitely be useful against Rookies, but not much higher than that. Maybe as a noisemaker or distraction tactic, but otherwise it'd be just something to annoy Champions or higher leveled Digimon. "By the way, Mr. Rowe, the scientists found something interesting about your Digivice." I looked up at him as he looked at the Optimizer. "They said that there's some kind of emitter on the forearm near your wrist." She reached out and tapped a round spot that had a small lens. "Did you ever notice the button behind it?"

"No, I didn't." He said. He looked at it as he turned a little. "Do they know what it does?"

"They don't, but they suggested you try it out." She said. "They think it might be some kind of improved scanning system." He looked at the spot and then at where she'd touched it. He pointed the lens at me.

"I hope that isn't some kind of weapon." I said. He looked at me for a second before he pointed it to my left and pressed the button. A small flat light moved up and down for a few seconds before the Optimizer beeped twice. He looked at the display as we all looked at him, and I saw a few scientists looking over.

"No target." He said. "Scan, incomplete. It is a scanner." He pointed it at me. "Okay, let's see what it says about you." He pressed the button and the light moved up and down my body for a second before it beeped at a higher tone. "Scan complete. Subject, Mao? It knows your name. Let's see, age, seventeen? I thought you were like, ten." I crossed my arms.

"Sixteen years in the Digital World and one here." I said with a shrug. He looked at it.

"Unable to acquire further data." He said. "Subject linked to Digi-Optimizer. Wearer name… It knows my name." He held it out and I looked at it.

"So it does." I said. "Hey, Scott."

"What?" He asked warily.

"Mind posing for a scan?" I asked. He looked at Percy as he reached up. Scott jumped onto his hand and then to the ground near me.

"Does it feel funny?" He asked.

"Not really." I said. "A little warm, but nothing to worry about." Arthur pointed the lens at Scott as he turned.

"Well, okay." He said. "If it doesn't hurt." Arthur pressed the button and scanned Scott, and the Optimizer let out two higher pitched beeps. "What was that?"

"Scan complete…" Arthur said. "New, attack?" I felt strange for a moment, like the Optimizer was doing something, but it was different from physically changing me. "Bubble Blast?"

"That's an attack I use." Scott said. "It's a big bubble full of air. It isn't very strong, but, an Impmon can't use it, even if Mao is different." Arthur held the screen down to me and it showed an image of me inhaling deeply, my stomach expanding until I exhaled a large purple bubble almost as big as my body. Images appeared in my head and I stretched my arms.

"Maybe I can." I said. "I mean, the Optimizer can modify my data so that I can be stronger or faster, so, maybe it can add some data that would let me mimic attacks. It's not impossible. If you absorb all of the code of another Digimon, you can use some of their attacks, right?" They all nodded. "So, maybe this is a way for me to do that, and not have to delete another Digimon, or learn it in advance for a fight."

"I'd like to see that." Scott said. "It'd sure be useful." I nodded and put the handgun in my belt as I turned and jumped up to the table and grabbed the holster for it.

"We'll figure it out later." I said. "I think Arthur and I should probably be heading home soon. His mother said she's making steak tonight, trying a new recipe, and I _don't_ want to miss that." They all laughed as I clipped the holster to my belt.


	5. The first day at home, the first mission

**Okay, chapter five. I got more readers for the last chapter posted, but it didn't seem to last beyond Saturday. It's really disconcerting. Please, review, because I want to know if more than one person likes this story. I like knowing if and why people like my work, so I can grow as a writer. If I don't have a little help, my stories stay about the same. With your help, I can make better chapters, without, it takes much longer.**

**Disclaimer: I, Lord Genesis Shadow, do hereby state that I do not own the rights to Digimon. Thank you, and have a pleasant day.  
>…<strong>

"_Oh, my goodness, Arthur." His mother said. "You, became a Tamer? When did this happen?" Arthur moved his foot casually while I looked around the room._

"_At school." He said. "He just, appeared out of nowhere. A computer screen flashed, and we didn't see him at first. He saw us though, and hid behind a trash can… I saw the tip of one of his ears." I walked into the living area and it was dark. I felt uneasy, but it was a new place, and I was now the partner of a human I had only just met. "He's cool though, really, polite. I didn't expect it, since… Well, you saw those Impmon that caused trouble the other week at the school."_

"_I hope you don't plan to do that here, mister." She said. I turned and looked at her. "I keep a clean house, and partner or not, you're not to pull any messy pranks around here." I nodded and held up my hand._

"_I promise, I'm not like a normal Impmon." I said. "It's been my lifelong dream to be a sheriff, actually." I lowered my arm. "Pranks aren't exactly my thing." She smiled a little as I looked around. "And, you do a great job keeping this house clean. I'll help if you need me… For, low shelves and such." She laughed as Arthur rubbed his head._

"_So, can I, keep him?" He asked. She looked at him. "I know he's not like a dog or anything, but, you know how you're always telling me to make friends. Digimon can be pretty close friends. Maybe, he could even help. You know he'd be great as a conversation starter."_

"_And I can even take part in them." I said, crossing my arms. He laughed._

"_Well, as long as you keep an eye on him." She said after a minute. "And don't think that I'll let you just run off to every wild Digimon that shows up to fight them. If you're in the area, maybe, and only if he's either with you or if I can get him to you." She looked at me for a second before walking over and kneeling, holding out her right hand. "I'm Mara. Do you have a name?" I slowly took her hand and shook my head._

"_No, not yet at least." I said. "For now… Just call me Sheriff." She laughed._

"_Arthur should think of something soon." She said. She looked back at him. "Right?" He nodded._

"_Yeah, no problem." He said. She stood up and walked toward the kitchen._

"_Well, I'm glad I decided to make a little extra for dinner tonight." She said. She looked over as she opened a pot. "Do Digimon eat?" I nodded._

"_Yes." I said. "Actually, in the Digital World, meat grows on plants, so there's lots of food. I'm, actually surprised that it doesn't in this world." She laughed and Arthur snickered._

"_Well, you'll be glad to know we still have meat." She said. "And lots of other delicious things." I sniffed and walked over to the kitchen as Arthur walked in._

"_Where's Kelly?" He asked._

"_She went to sleep at her friend's house tonight." She said. "So it's… Still just three of us tonight." They laughed as I jumped up to the counter and sniffed, and she suddenly held a spoon in front of me with a ball of meat on it. "How does this taste?" I slowly reached up and grabbed it and looked at it. "Spaghetti and meatballs with marinara, made from scratch."_

"_Everything you make is made from scratch, mom." Arthur said. She laughed as I put the meatball in my mouth and my eyes went wide. I closed them as I ate it, savoring it. "I'd say he likes it."_

"_Well, Sheriff?" She asked with a southern drawl. "How is it?" I swallowed it, almost reluctantly from how good it was._

"_It's better than anything I've ever had." I said. I looked over at her as she smiled._

"_Good." She said. She looked at the pot and moved the spoon a few times before closing it. "Just another minute and the spaghetti should be perfect." I climbed up and she laughed as I looked at another pot. She held out a pad to me and I looked at her. "Open it with this, away from you. It's going to be very hot." I slowly took the pad and used it to open the pot, a great deal of steam coming out of it as I looked in at, a lot of noodles. "I spoke too soon." I put the lid back and she suddenly picked me up. I struggled at first but she set me down on a chair by the table, next to Arthur. "How hungry are you?" I went to speak when my stomach growled loudly. "I'll take that as 'starving'." She laughed as Arthur got up and went to the cupboards, pulling out glasses and plates._

"_How long has it been since you've eaten, Sheriff?" He asked. I looked at the ceiling as I thought._

"_This world's time, or mine?" I asked. They laughed._

"_Your world." He said. "Add ours to it if you want. About, ten, eleven hours?" I mouthed quietly before shrugging._

"_About four days." I said. They stopped and looked at me._

"_Do you, not have to eat often?" Mara asked._

"_No…" I said. "I just, didn't have time to eat very often. I lived in the Dark Area. There's not a lot of food there normally, and I was always on the move. You'd be surprised how many bad Digimon just want to delete everyone they see to grow stronger." Arthur slowly set the table as I looked at the chair for a second. I looked around the kitchen as he sat down, and I saw a large book by the refrigerator. I jumped down and walked over._

"_Where are you going?" Arthur asked. I grabbed the book and held it over my head as I walked back over to the chair. "Oh, good idea." I set it down and looked at it and then at my legs for a second before pushing the chair in a little. As I jumped up, Mara had put a good deal of the spaghetti on the plate, and several meatballs in a generous amount of sauce. I licked my lips as I looked at it. The one meatball was great, and this smelled fantastic. "Okay, once mom's set, we eat." I nodded and licked my lips again as she sat down._

"_Dig in." She said. I went to grab a meatball but stopped myself. I looked to the side and saw the fork, so I grabbed it as Arthur began eating fairly quickly. "Arthur, you're going to choke if you keep eating like that." I put the fork in and leaned forward a little, pulling the pasta toward me, and I ate it slowly, smiling as I closed my eyes. "Look, Sheriff is starving, hasn't eaten in four days, and he's taking his time." He laughed quietly as I swallowed, opening my eyes._

"_I always try to savor and appreciate what I eat." I said. "And just devouring food this good would be a waste for all the effort and care you put into it." She smiled._

"_Well, I think we're going to get along quite nicely." She said._

"_You know, I think I might have a name for you." Arthur said. I looked at him after I put more of the spaghetti in my mouth. "You're like a little demon, right?" I nodded. "And, you want to get stronger, right?" I nodded again. "Like, demon _lord_ level strong." I swallowed the spaghetti._

"_Yeah." I said. "I want to be a sheriff, so I have to be as strong as possible to protect everyone I can." He smirked._

"_Well, I'll call you Mao." He said. I blinked._

"_Demon lord." I said. He nodded._

"_Digimon appear most often in Japan, so, why not?" He said. "If the shoe fits, wear it." I nodded and smiled._

"_I like it." I said. "Mao…" I laughed. "I really like it." I looked at the plate in front of me. "Not quite as much as this spaghetti, but I like it." They laughed as I put the fork in a meatball and ate it._  
>…<p>

"Mao, wake up buddy." Arthur said. I rolled over and suddenly fell to the ground with a surprised yell. I looked around as he started laughing. "Mao, we stayed at the headquarters, remember?" I stood up and licked my lips.

"All I remember, is Mara's delicious, spaghetti and meatballs." I said tiredly. He laughed louder and I jumped up, grabbing the bunk, and reaching forward and grabbing my guns. After dropping down again I holstered them and looked up. "I wonder what they serve for breakfast." He shrugged as he turned and opened the door.

"Let's find out." He said. We walked out and toward the cafeteria when Percy walked out somewhat quickly, Scott flying out and landing on his shoulder. "What's up?"

"We're on." He said quickly.

"Wait, what?" Arthur asked.

"Bio-Emerging Digimon at the mall." He said. "Two Agumon and a very angry Greymon." He walked past as Arthur and I turned. "There are many more in other parts, but those are our specific targets, over by the sporting goods right now."

"So, the agency vehicle?" Arthur asked quickly. Percy nodded as I jumped up and grabbed his free shoulder and climbed up. "I'll pull it around to the front." He ran ahead as Percy sped up. I put my earpiece on as Arthur put his in, and I flicked mine on.

"This should be good to see what we can do together." Percy said. "Scott will Digivolve right away and ride in the passenger seat while we take the back." I nodded as he pushed the front door open and walked quickly. He pulled out the D-arc as I jumped down, and he quickly slid the card through. Scott jumped up quickly and began glowing.

"Patamon, Digivolve to!" He called. I whistled as he was enveloped in an egg shaped barrier of white swirling code. It vanished and he landed, spinning his new staff. "Angemon." He looked down at me and I smirked.

"Lookin' tall." I said. He laughed.

"Just be careful." He said. "I know you can handle the Greymon, but I want you to deal with the Agumon first." I nodded as a loud engine roared and we looked as a large black van with dark tinted windows stopped. It rolled down and revealed Arthur.

"This is our means of transportation?" Percy asked. "Incroyable. Plenty of room, but is it going to get us there before they cause damage?" I ran over and jumped up to the window and climbed in.

"If we ask questions, we won't know." I called. I jumped into the back and saw a car seat. "What's this?"

"That's for you." Arthur said. "Because of your size…" I sighed and got in it slowly as Percy and Scott got in. I put the belts over and crossed my arms.

"One word." I said warningly. "One word and I listen to that little voice that tells me to prank you." Arthur laughed as Percy carefully put his seatbelt on. Arthur quickly got us onto the road and Scott looked over at me, so I pointed at him. "You owe me for the blanket burrito so can it." He laughed.

"I was going to say, once you can become a Champion, that seat is going out the window." He said. I put my hand to my chin.

"I like the way you think." I said. Everyone laughed as I rubbed my hands together. "All the more important, eh?"

"Hey Mao, when I was getting the van, I checked the Optimizer." Arthur said. I looked up. "It said you can use the Boom Bubble in another way. You can focus it to a spent cartridge and fire a lot of hot air. It's not quite your Badda-Boom shot, but if that's not working, maybe air will." I nodded as I began thinking, and I thought of the child seat.

"I can catapult this out of the window then." I said. "Great thinking." Everyone laughed more as he turned on the siren.

"Good thing I'm allowed to run red lights." He said. "But, don't tell my mom. She'd _kill_ me."  
>…<p>

I walked into the food court, where they said the Agumon went, and were joined by a few Gizamon. I looked around slowly when my earpiece made a sound. I pressed the button and pulled the mouthpiece down where it would work.

"Mao, can you hear me?" Arthur asked.

"Loud and clear." I said quietly. "I've got no sign of them, but I've got an idea."

"Fire off a few rounds?" He suggested.

"No." I said. "That new attack, Boom…" I stopped and thought. "You know what, it's my attack, why shouldn't I rename it?"

"What do you want to call it?" He asked. "Bear in mind you should hurry and find the wild Digimon." I shrugged.

"Dark Bubble." I said. "It's dark purple, right?"

"Sure." He said. "Hey, can you lead an Agumon here? They've got some cool attacks. Maybe you can use them." I shrugged again. "Okay, how do you want to play this?"

"Dark Bubble to draw them out, and I'll use your gun to see if I can deal with it." I said. "I might even use both. Double Dark Rounds in two different calibers might be interesting." He laughed. "But let's go with a fast approach, but still give me a little power if I have to throw a kick."

"Got it." He said. "Done." I felt the rush and drew the pistols, and I began inhaling. "Fire away partner."

"Dark Bubble!" I called as I spat the attack. It cleared a few tables without breaking them, and the Agumon and Gizamon quickly jumped out. I charged energy to the handgun and my revolver. Four Gizamon, two Agumon. 'Piece of cake.' They started running, and one Agumon had flames in his mouth. "Dark Rounds!" I fired repeatedly, hitting the Gizamon first, rapidly, and I only fired one from Baffle. They all fell quickly, save the Agumon. Somehow it had ducked away, just barely avoiding it. I then pointed at it with Baffle and fired three times. As expected, it didn't avoid them this time, and fell quickly to two hits to the chest and one to the head. I quickly holstered them as the Agumon started stepping back, but I put my finger to my eyelid and pulled it down, sticking my tongue out at it and making a silly sound. It growled as I turned and ran. "Handbag!" I ran forward quickly and dove over a fountain where Arthur had hidden behind. I looked at him as he turned his earpiece off. "Ready?" He nodded as I stood up, drew the pistols, and pointed them at it as he got up and pointed the Optimizer at it. It stopped instantly as the light covered it, and two beeps were heard.

"Got it!" He said quickly.

"Bye bye!" I called. I fired once from each gun and hit it in the head and chest. As it fell I looked to see the Greymon's fireballs just barely missing Scott, and hitting the ceiling. "Backup?"

"Backup." He said. "Two moves. Pepper Breath and Spirit Fire. Think you can use them?" I thought as we started running toward the area where Scott was dodging more flames.

"I'll try." I said. "Let's go with the Tyrannomon plan." I skidded at the edge where Percy was looking over at the tough dragon. I ejected the magazine and went to reach for one when I thought about the Shadow Reload. 'Not the best time, but…' I held out my hand. "Shadow Reload." I waited for a second as I focused, and a magazine for the pistol appeared as a purple outline before filling in. "Jackpot." I put it in and pulled out Baffle.

"You can reload a different gun?" Percy asked.

"Apparently…" I said. "Shadow Reload." I emptied Baffle's spent rounds and reloaded it, dropping the extras. "Scott."

"Kind of busy." He said as he dodged a flame. "What is it?"

"I'm going to drop in on him." I said. "I'll shoot him, and you fly in and finish him off."

"Better idea." He said. "I'll use my Angel Rod to knock him off balance, and you get him in the head. My Hand of Faith isn't going to cut it this time." He spun his staff and deflected some flames as I jumped up and looked down Baffle's barrel, taking aim at the head of the large Greymon. It was huge, even by the standards I knew. "Here we go!" He flew in and clocked the dragon, putting the staff in its mouth and moving onto its back. I looked and searched for a shot that wouldn't put Scott in danger as he held on. "Take the shot, Mao!"

'Dang it, this better not hit him.' I thought. It was like time had stopped for just a second, and I went to pull the trigger, but Scott was thrown off. It looked up and I jumped down as it shot a huge burst of flame up at me. I fell for a second, somewhat off balance, my back to the ground as my arms flailed. "Oh crap!" I landed in a pool of water and stayed down for a second, feeling a bit of pain in my back from the landing. I coughed under the water and saw the Greymon as it moved over the water and opened its mouth as I reached for Baffle, which now rested beside me. Suddenly it stopped, seemingly in pain. As it started looking away, I grabbed Baffle and pointed at it, the barrel still underwater. 'Take this!' I fired until Baffle was empty, each shot hitting away from where I was aiming due to the refraction of the water, but three hit the shoulder and chest, two hit the neck, and the last hit the back of its head, killing it. I got up and treaded water, coughing and sputtering as I shook my head. Scott walked over with his staff and held it out to me, since I was at the middle. I grabbed it and he pulled me forward, and I put Baffle on the edge as he laughed. "Thanks for stunning it. It was about to, dip down and, eat me or something."

"It wasn't me." He said. I looked at him and he looked down at someone, so I looked down to see a Palmon, standing somewhat behind his leg. "It was this little flower, hiding in the bushes with vines set to paralyze the brute." She slowly stepped out and smiled. I got up and sat on the edge as she smiled a little more.

"Thank you." I said. I dropped down and held out my hand. "I owe you one." She took my hand and smiled.

"I'm Daisy." She said. "My Tamer, told me to wait when they attacked. I'm glad you guys got here when you did." I shook her hand when Scott suddenly recoiled.

"Ow." He said. I looked up as he waved his hand. "What was that? Your revolver just, shocked me."

"He works for my hand, or the hand of someone I…" I said, trailing off. I jumped and quickly picked Baffle up and laughed. "Others can use him, but I have to hand him to them for him to accept them. I didn't do it before because, I didn't think you'd want to use him." I held him out and he laughed as he took it for a second before handing it back to me.

"A little warning next time." He said. Daisy laughed as she turned.

"I've gotta get back to my Tamer." She said. "I'll, see you around?"

"Before you go, I'm Mao." I said. She smiled as Scott turned and bowed.

"And I'm Scott." He said. "Hopefully, we will see you again." She giggled and jogged away as Scott picked me up. "Alright then, back to _our_ Tamers." He flew up and landed, putting me down as I emptied Baffle.

"That was just dumb luck." Arthur said. "Oh, the Palmon." He raised the Optimizer and pressed the button, but it made the second type of beep. "Nothing?"

"Maybe I have to be at least a little compatible." I said. "Breathing fire, works with the lungs I guess. Same with the bubble."

"Stands to reason." Percy said. "Or somehow use energy with your weapon." I nodded and cleared my throat.

"Shadow Reload." I said. "Man, I hate having to call the attack names to use them."

"I agree." Scott said. I slowly reloaded. "It makes the element of surprise nonexistent." I spun the last bullet and put it in before closing and holstering Baffle.

"I think we should try to find a way to stop it." I said. "It might just get us hurt if we keep doing it."

"I agree." He said.


	6. Getting settled in, the first battle

**Okay, it's been a few weeks since last I posted. I hope I haven't lost fans. But I post one thing a week if I have something I feel is truly ready, on Fridays, and I have a few stories in something of a rotation… Kind of. I figure it's about time for this. Maybe in a few weeks it'll be Gallade's Arm getting an update… Well, if I can get the next chapter ready. I'm getting writer's block in front of it. So uh, bear with me on that one.**

**This chapter is a little slow, but this wasn't meant to be a super action-y story, so it'll have some slow spots where character and plot development is important. And Mao has a heck of a story to his name, and a bigger one down the line somewhere. And to get there, you have to start from the beginning to get all the facts.**

**MitzvahRose, thank you for being a fan. I hope you enjoy this chapter. The next one has some action though. So there's that to look forward to, eh… That goes to all of you who read this.**

**Disclaimer: I, Lord Genesis Shadow, do not own the rights to Digimon. Thank you, and have a nice day.  
>…<strong>

I spun Baffle on my finger while I watched Arthur talking to the scientists. They'd scanned me and were going over the data in the Optimizer. They were going to call me over later, for some kind of test or another. I didn't mind, but I was getting bored. We had just helped put down the wild Digimon in the mall and things were being repaired quickly, but we hadn't eaten breakfast yet… And it was fast approaching lunch.

"Mao, are you alright?" Scott asked. I shrugged and holstered Baffle. "Oh, waiting on the Digi-Energy test?"

"The what?" I asked, looking at him. He walked over and sat down.

"They discovered a kind of energy in Digimon." He said. "It's what lets us use our powers, our attacks. You know, Boom Bubble or your Dark Rounds." I nodded slowly. "You know that we can only use so many? They found out why. We have this energy in us that lets us use it. They call it Digi. Well, the full name is Digi-Energy, but most of us just call it Digi." I laughed quietly and looked over. "Anyway, every Digimon only has so much each day. When we run out and keep trying to use our attacks, it makes us pass out. Apparently the energy they discovered is the main reason why. They've even managed to help us figure out how much we have of it and put an actual number to it."

"Cool." I said.

"Yeah." He said. "Right now I have about two hundred. As an Angemon I have a little over four thousand." I whistled as I looked at him.

"Twenty times." I said. He nodded.

"And they can even tell how much Digi your attacks use." He said. "My Boom Bubble uses about ten Digi." I drew Baffle and looked at it for a second. "I wonder how much your Dark Rounds uses."

"And so many others." I said. "I've got a few attacks… But, it's different for me."

"How?" He asked. "You don't even know how much Digi you've got."

"Yeah, but I double up on how much I use." I said. "I know I've got a limit to my attacks, but by focusing my energy, or Digi I guess, I can put twice as much into my attacks so I can do more damage."

"Hey, Mao." Arthur called. "They're ready for you." Scott and I got up as I holstered Baffle. We walked over and looked up at the scientists.

"Would you please stand on this, Mao?" One asked. I walked onto a set of tiles with a circle and looked at it. "Did Scott tell you about Digi-Energy?" I nodded. "We're going to scan you, and this should tell us how much of it you have. We'll also scan your attacks as we can. If you run out, we'll continue after lunch when you've recovered enough." I nodded and the floor moved up. "Hold still please." I looked at a light as it scanned me up and down, and then left to right. "And… Done…" They were silent for a few seconds.

"Wow." Arthur said. Scott flew up and landed on a table and looked at the screen and then me.

"So, what?" I asked. "Three hundred?"

"Uh, six hundred." Arthur said. I tilted my head.

"That's what it says." The scientist said. "Six hundred Digi. Amazing."

"Three times as much as me." Scott said. "That's, great."

"And that means my normal Dark Round attack would use fifty." I said. Someone started typing when I cleared my throat. "But, I double it, just so that's known. I can only fire it six times usually. That's, probably why I can delete Champions." They looked up at me.

"That may be a little dangerous." One said. They all had masks over their faces, and they had their heads covered in white suits with hoods. I couldn't tell which one was speaking. "But, you don't have trouble doing so?" I shook my head. "Then, maybe you have better control over your Digi-Energy."

"Well, I spent the last fourteen Digi-years in the Dark Area, training." I said. "I just, wanted to be strong enough to protect myself, so, I started trying to strengthen my attacks. I knew about Digi, but, I never called it anything. I started putting more and more into my Dark Rounds or my Badda-Boom Shot, and I've been able to easily put down some big targets."

"Like that Greymon." One said.

"Actually I didn't think I had time to use it, so I just fired regular bullets." I said.

"More like that Tyrannomon earlier this week." Arthur said. They all nodded and began typing.

"So, normally the Dark Round attack, uses fifty Digi-Energy." The first scientist said. "Could you use your, Badda-Boom Shot on a target?" I nodded and looked over as a metal plate target was raised nearby. "When we say to fire, please use it normally… You said you can use it two ways?"

"Yeah." I said. I drew Baffle and opened it, pulling the bullets out one by one. "I prefer using it with my revolver though. It has a little more power, and I can fire it further and more accurately." He nodded and gestured.

"Please, demonstrate." He said. I pointed Baffle after putting the cylinder back in.

"Badda-Boom Shot!" I said quickly, pulling the trigger. The ball of fire shot out and hit the target, burning it.

"It says forty Digi." He said. "Did you double this time?" I nodded. "Okay, so, twenty. Now without… Ready." I pointed my free index finger and turned slightly.

"Badda-Boom Shot." I said. I moved my thumb and fired the ball, and it hit a little to the right of where I was aiming, but it hit the center.

"Twenty…" He said. "Using your revolver doubles it anyway." I looked at my finger.  
>…<p>

I drank the soda as Arthur ate his cheeseburger. I had one as well, with fries and a medium cola. Percy was eating grilled fish and a salad with a milkshake, and Scott was eating just a salad with a small lemonade. During the tests, they found that my Shadow Reload used only a single Digi per bullet, my Blazing Lasso used one per second, Burning Fence used ten per ball, my fire kick used forty, and my Infernal Funnel used up to one hundred depending on how many pieces of ice or fire I summoned. When I used my borrowed Boom Bubble though, it used fifteen normally, five more than Scott. Testing the borrowed attacks from Agumon, Pepper Breath and Spirit Fire, used thirty and sixty normally.

"So, what do you do after work Percy?" Arthur asked after a few minutes. I took a bite of my cheeseburger as Percy swallowed his piece of fish.

"We usually stay around here and help out most days." He said. "But on the weekends we go home and rest. I personally go visit my parents every Saturday, and on the way back we'll often stop by the gym. Have to stay in shape and all that." Arthur nodded as I drank my soda. "Sundays, I go to church with my parents, and Scott goes to visit the local orphanage to play with the children." Arthur smiled.

"You're a couple of good guys." He said. Percy laughed.

"Well, what about you?" He asked.

"Oh, homework mostly." Arthur said. "In fact, I'm just glad they're willing to send my schoolwork. I only have to go in on Fridays from now on to turn it in every week."

"I bet you miss your friends." Scott said.

"Uh, n-not really." Arthur said quietly. "I, uh, don't have any, friends. It's just, you know, me and Mao, my mom, and my little sister. I usually just fade into the background at school, no one notices me that often but the teachers."

"That's terrible." Percy said. I looked at him. "Well, you can definitely call me your friend now, and Scott of course." Scott nodded. "We're going to be working together, so we may as well be, right?" Arthur smiled and nodded.

"Thanks." He said. Percy patted his shoulder.

"Tell you what, tonight, we'll all go out and do something." He said. "And I know just the place. I've heard about an arcade where they have laser tag." Arthur laughed. "We'll all go. Scott will Digivolve, and Mao, well, he doesn't have to." I smirked.

"Just hope I'm on your team." I said. "Friends or not, I'm don't do warning shots." They laughed as I picked up the last of the burger and ate it.

"Let's see if you can take down a Champion with a light gun." Scott said. We grinned at each other while Arthur and Percy laughed.

"Percival Canterbury and Arthur Rowe, please report to the chief's office." A man said on the intercom. "Percival Canterbury and Arthur Rowe, to the chief's office."

"Man, just like school." Arthur said. "Paging me to the principal's office." Percy laughed as he finished his fish, and I drank the last of my soda. "Come on Mao, you're coming too." Percy got up after Scott got on his shoulder.  
>…<p>

"Before anything, let me say that there's nothing wrong." The chief said. "I asked you all here to tell you that I'm going to hire on another member for your group. Two is good, but the higher ups want full squads of at least four Tamers and Digimon." Percy and Arthur exchanged glances. "I'm currently talking to a potential recruit, and I think you'll work well."

"Who is it?" Arthur asked.

"A girl named Annabelle Summers." The chief said. "Her partner is, a Palmon."

"A Palmon?" Scott and I asked together.

"Yes." He said. "And before you ask, I remember your report that a Palmon helped you, Daisy, right?" We nodded. "I'm not sure if this is the same Palmon, but if it is, you should get along well. She's coming by tomorrow, so, Mao, Scott, why don't you show her Palmon around? When I'm talking to her, Percy, Arthur, you show Annabelle around."

"S-sure." Arthur said.

"Of course." Percy said. "But are you sure you'll assign her to work with us?"

"Well, your report gave a solid strategy." The chief replied. "The Palmon, while not always effective in combat, can use their vines to stun their targets, their Poison Ivy attack, and drain their energy with an attack called Root Breaker… Though there is that, Stench Attack. Watch out for it." Percy and Scott laughed while I leaned back. "I figure, support units. Mao, Scott, you two can take down some tough Digimon, so you two are on the offense role. Scott, you go in with a staff, close range, and Mao, you handle things at a distance."

"Though I can go close range with my Imp Fire Kick." I said. He nodded.

"But the point, is that having help in the form of a paralysis laced vine is helpful." He said. "It's definitely a good idea to have friends. And when the Palmon Digivolves the first time, you get a Togemon, a _very_ big cactus with boxing gloves and some serious punching power."  
>…<p>

I walked slowly through the artificial smoke, looking around. Arthur and Percy were on the other side, and Scott was nearby. We wore special bodysuits that analyzed where we were hit, and it'd tighten up so it was like we'd been hit, and some parts would lock up as though injured. We could be brought back only after being 'killed', which was measured by either losing the use of both arms, or taking enough hits, or a headshot or a shot to the heart, but we could heal at designated 'healing zones'. So far, I'd avoided being hit, and Scott had taken a shot to the arm, which disabled it, but it wasn't his gun hand.

"Mao." Scott whispered. I looked over at the source as he gestured over his shoulder toward the pillar, so I moved to the one across from his. "Arthur and Percival. About forty feet out. They're after our healing zone." I nodded and looked over. We had the option to use various types of weapons, but our equipment was limited to two weapons that were plugged into the suits. I had a 'heavy' pistol with six shots before I had to press a button near my thumb to reload it, and a rifle with a scope. I pulled out the rifle and leaned down and onto the floor. "I'll get Arthur. No point in us doing in our own partners, right?"

"Yup." I said quietly. I lined up the shot. "You got him?"

"Yeah." He said. "Ready?"

"Three…" I said.

"Two." He counted. I put my finger to the trigger.

"One!" We said together. I fired the rifle and hit Percy in the back of the head, making his suit lock up completely for a moment as a light round hit Arthur through the left side of his chest, right near the heart, but it was close enough. They cried out together as I got up with a grin. The lights came on, meaning we had just won. I put the rifle back as they walked over.

"You guys suck." Arthur said. "Mao, why'd you shoot _me_?"

"I didn't." I said. Percy laughed. "I shot the mountain in the peak." They laughed together as Scott rotated his arm.

"So, you?" Arthur asked.

"I may be an angel, but that doesn't mean I won't fight back." He said. I laughed as we started toward the entrance, others walking over. "So, what do you think the score was?"

"I think we did pretty good." Arthur said. "I got at least ten kills, mostly torso shots though. I stink with a pistol, and a machine gun just, sucks for me." Percy put his hand on his shoulder.

"I didn't do too bad, either." He said. "Got at least eight or nine, maybe more. Maybe got a lucky hit, eh? Scott?"

"Five." He said. "I mostly wounded, aiming for a leg or an arm to slow them down, let the others handle it, but I saved Mao twice."

"How'd you do then, Mao?" Arthur asked. I shrugged.

"I stopped paying attention and just had fun." I said. "I was in the zone though. Kept using my pistol a lot, but I'm pretty good with a rifle, it turns out." They all laughed as we got to the score room with everyone. We looked up as I was suddenly picked up. I struggled before being set on a stand.

"Our high score breaker!" The announcer called. I looked around as people cheered. I looked back at a score, and my name. "Mao, the GunImpmon!" More cheers as I grinned at the score.

"Forty five!" Arthur and Scott exclaimed together. I laughed quietly before turning.

"Anything you want to say, Mao?" The announcer asked.

"Well, I was just, playing." I said. "I just wanted to have fun." Everyone laughed as I put my hands behind my head.  
>…<p>

I settled into my hammock, which I'd brought with me this time. We'd gone home and gotten some things, and Arthur's mom was happy that we'd made some friends and had fun. We'd come home every day after work for dinner, but we'd probably spend a lot of time at headquarters to sleep from now on, if only so we'd be ready at a moment's notice. But she was kind of mad that Arthur had to wear a bullet proof vest, and would eventually have to carry a gun. She somewhat calmed down when I told her I'd personally train him so he'd be safe. That only lasted until she remembered that I was self taught, at which point she got mad at me for a few minutes.

"Hey, Mao." Arthur said. I looked over at him. "Think we'll really make a lot of friends here?"

"We've already got two more…" I said. "And some of the people here are really friendly. I'm sure we'll get to know a lot of people. Maybe not friends, but, hopefully more than coworkers, you know?" He nodded as I looked at the window.

"I hope so." He said. "Mom won't let me here the end of it if I don't at least make friends within our, team…"

"If it's to be four Tamers and Digimon, then, you'll make six friends." I said. "Three more humans, three more Digimon. Seven friends in all… Strange number, but…" He laughed. "Cylinder and the barrel."

"What?" He asked, still laughing. I pointed at Baffle, which was below me on the table.

"Six rounds, and a barrel they go through." I said. "The cylinder has six spots, six friends, and then there's the barrel." I leaned up and pointed at myself with my thumb. "Me." He laughed quietly. "You know, humans are strange, but, I like this world a lot more than the Dark Area… Or the entire Digital World… Things move, slower here, and there are more friendly people. I'm glad I came here."

"Me too." He said. "Got my best buddy since you showed up, and things have been, pretty cool. Scary at times, especially during our first fight, but, that was still fun as heck." I smirked at the thought.

"Yeah, that was fun." I said. I leaned back into the ropes and sighed. "Ever, wonder if I might ever Digivolve?"

"What do you mean?" He asked. "Of course you will."

"I might." I said. "No one ever said all Digimon go past the Rookie stage. Some Digimon just, never do. Some just stay at the lowest fighting level, never getting past it because of some barrier, or just, lack of data. I mean, what is it with me? I had, that dream the other day, the one where your alarm woke me up…" He laughed. "I was, a Devimon… But I had, a Stetson, a gun belt… And a vest."

"You, with clothes?" He asked with a laugh. "Mao, the only thing you wear is that belt and neckerchief. The only time you wore something else was earlier today in the laser tag." I leaned back a little more and put my hands behind my head. "But, if you ever do Digivolve, how much stronger will you get? You're already like a little Champion. If you Digivolve, you'll be way stronger, right?"

"Yeah." I said. "All the more reason though, right? I can kill a Champion, if I go about it right, but Scott could use some competent help, not just a little imp running around with a revolver and a handgun."

"Well, it'll happen when it has to, right?" He asked.

"Yeah, I guess." I said. "When it does though, I'll be a lot more helpful to the rest of our team."  
>…<p>

"_Mao, this isn't looking good." Arthur said quietly. I just drew Baffle. "What are you doing? That's a Monochromon! A Champion!"_

"_I can take it." I said quietly. "I just have to get close enough to shoot it in the head. One shot."_

"_Mao, it's fighting an Angemon." He said. "We'll just get in the way."_

"_He's having trouble." I said quickly. "They're both Champions. If I can even provide a distraction, then he'll be able to finish it off. Come on, you know I'm fast enough." I touched the Optimizer. "Especially with _this_." He looked over at it and then at me, and finally at the Optimizer._

"_If you even have one moment where think it can hit you, get away." He said. "Just, haul butt away from it." I nodded._

"_Don't worry." I said. "I'm not looking to be a glorified horn ornament." He laughed as I jumped over and started running. As the Angemon spotted me, I shot the Monochromon in the hind leg at the ankle, and it roared before I shot it in the opposite back ankle. It stumbled and turned as I ran to the side. "Toro, toro! To… Mono!" It charged at me, slowly, making me laugh as I stopped. "Really? _Really_?" It ran at me and I gestured. "Angemon, get him! He can't even run!" It opened its mouth and I jumped aside to avoid the fireball. "Okay! Kill it now! Hurry up!" I dodge again as the Angemon flew down, but to my surprise, the Monochromon turned and hit the Angemon with its horn, throwing it aside and into a tree. "Crud!" It turned to me and let out another fireball, and I dodged again, running. "Arthur, ideas!" I heard him running and saw a fire near him._

"_Give me a minute." He yelled. I stopped and ran around the Monochromon, being careful of the fire and the Angemon as he tried to get up._

"_Hey, feathers, move 'em!" I called. "This thing is _ticked_!" I looked as he took to the air and I looked at the Monochromon before pointing Baffle at it and firing all but the last bullet. I hit the legs and it dropped to its knees and roared as I stopped._

"_I'm too weak!" The Angemon called. I looked at him as his hand sparked. "I can't attack! Run, and get help!"_

"_Mao, do what he said!" Arthur called. I looked at the Monochromon and then at Baffle._

"_Better idea!" I called. I ran at the Monochromon as fast as I could, out of its range as it tried to turn._

"_Mao!" Arthur called. "Don't! You're just a Rookie! It'll burn you alive!" I jumped up and avoided the horn, landing on its back before turning and grabbing it. "It's rolling!" I put the barrel at the base of its skull. "MAO!"_

"_Dark Round!" I called. I pulled the trigger and the sound drowned out the Angemon. A hole appeared, smoldering as I slid off and away. As it turned to data, I panted and looked at Baffle, smiling a little. 'You and me, buddy, we'll go a long way before Digivolving.'_

"_Mao, you, you little…" Arthur said angrily. I looked as he walked over, the data flowing into me. "You could have gotten _killed_ by that thing! What were you thinking?"_

"_That a Dark Round could kill a Champion level black and white rhino dino." I said. He stopped before taking off his hat, sighing, and he swatted me over the head with it. I tried to stop him, laughing. "Hey, c-cut it out! Come on, I'm alive, Arthur!"_


	7. Two new partners, one strange message

**It's been a few weeks, so here's chapter seven. I like it enough for the purpose, though it feels short for some reason. It's dialogue heavy, a little action, and some more history between Mao and Arthur. It's going to be mostly development for a while, but Mao and his new friends are going to be working hard for a while.**

**I, Lord Genesis Shadow, do hereby state that I do not own the rights to Digimon. If I did, GunImpmon would be in some of the games. The RPGs mainly. And they'd be weaker than Mao, but still dangerous in general, able to fire twice as many Dark Rounds.  
>…<strong>

"_Hey, leave me alone." A voice called from outside. It was Arthur. I walked to the door and opened it, and I saw a boy with an Agumon pushing him over._

"_Buzz off loser." He said. "You're no Tamer. That isn't even a Digivice. It's just some stupid toy." I walked over quickly as Arthur got up. "What the hell is that?"_

"_An Impmon." The Agumon said. "With a gun."_

"_He's my Digimon." Arthur said. "He's a GunImpmon, and… He's my partner." He held up the Optimizer, and I mimicked him, holding up my hand like he was. "And this is his Digivice."_

"_Yeah, right." The boy said. "He's your mother's or something." Arthur gritted his teeth as I stepped forward._

"_Arthur is my Tamer." I said. "And that is my Digivice. So leave my Tamer alone, alright?" The boy laughed and his Agumon followed soon. It was that kind of laughter where they thought they were better than us, that they believed we could be written off. When they were out of earshot, he sighed. "I can get back at them, if you want." He laughed. "I'll need a slingshot, and some used gum with a wrapper."_

"_Next time." He said. "Who, would you aim for?"_

"_The human." I said. "He's got hair. Gum, hair, hide in a bush so they don't see me. Then when they look away again, I'll get the Agumon." He put his hand on my head._

"_Good thinking." He said. "Lucky for you I've got a slingshot." He turned and walked to the house, so I ran up and walked by him. "So… Anything happen while I was at school?"_

"_I helped Mrs. Rowe make some cookies." I said._

"_For us?" He asked._

"_For your father, I'm told." I said. He stopped and I ran into him, stumbling back._

"_Dad?" He asked. "Is he visiting?"_

"_No." I said. "She said she's sending them to him, with a letter about what's happened recently. Is, something wrong? I wondered why he isn't…"_

"_He's gone." He said. "He, he's a Marine, on tour overseas, I, I don't know where. Mom won't say." He made a fist. "I don't know why he had to go. I don't, know exactly why they recalled him, but he's on a year and half long tour. He, won't be back for fourteen months."_

"_I, am sorry." I said. "Had I known…"_

"_It's cool." He said. "I just, wish he'd call, or write, you know?" I was silent. "Mao? Are you alright?"_

"_What's it like, having, a family?" I asked. "I, have been here for a few months, but, I'm not sure what family is really like…" He walked into the front room and I followed him, and he picked me up and set me on the couch as he sat down._

"_Well, this is, a family, I guess." He said. "You're like, a little brother to me, a new big brother to Kelly. The way we treat you, like we have… It's like you're part of the family."_

"_So, this is family…" I said. "It's, nice."_

"_Yeah." He said. "When dad gets back… I'm sure he'll act like you're a new son." He laughed. "He'll ask when mom had you." I looked at him. "Uh, you know, when mom, gave…" I blinked._

"_I, think I see." I said. He laughed and put his hand on my head._

"_Anyway, this is what family is like." He said. "You know, acting like this. Friends, but, with a stronger bond." I nodded and looked at my feet for a second. "Tell you what, when dad calls us, we'll introduce you. Odds are he'll act like you're a new son." I smiled a little. "Don't, Digimon have families?"_

"_Well, now that our data is, different…" I said. "Digimon finally have genders, and, though there are more Digimon being born, sometimes, they just don't form familial bonds. I, don't know if I have parents, or if I was just, reformatted as an egg with, a little extra data…"_

"_Well, if you have parents, maybe we'll meet them someday." He said. I nodded when Mara walked in._

"_Arthur, Mao, I heard commotion." She said. "Is everything okay?"_

"_Uh, just, a bully." Arthur said. "Mao managed to get him to leave. We're fine."_

"_Good." She said. "I'm just glad there wasn't a fight. You know how I felt when I saw you on the news fighting that, that… Um…" She gestured at me for a moment._

"_Monochromon." I said._

"_Yes." She said. "I was afraid you'd get hurt."_

"_Mom, Mao's tougher than he looks." He said, putting his arm on my head. I fought a smirk. "Come on, look at him. He's fast, strong, he's got range on most Digimon, he can flip fire from his fingertips…"_

"_And I apparently make a good arm rest." I said. He snickered as Mara sighed._

"_Arthur, I want you to stay back whenever there's a fight." She said. "I want you to stay safe." He nodded as I slid off of the couch. "And Mao, I want _you_ to make sure he stays out of danger." I nodded._

"_He's my Tamer." I said. "I fight, he helps me."  
>…<em>

The familiar alarm clock woke me up, and I reached down to find it, when it stopped. I opened my eye and saw, a Palmon near Scott, and they both looked up at me. As Scott went to talk I grabbed the clock and turned it so I could see the time on it. Eight thirty. I set it back down and looked at the Palmon, holding my hand out.

"Mao." I said. She giggled and took my hand.

"I know." She said. "I'm Daisy."

"Oh yeah." I said tiredly. "Then that means…" I yawned quietly. "We're giving a tour."

"We're a little early, but, I hope that's okay." She said. I went to get up but stopped and sighed quietly. "What's wrong?"

"Impmon are usually nocturnal." Scott said. "So he's tired."

"Diurnal." I said tiredly. "Mischief has no schedule. It just happens." I rolled a little before swinging my legs over, and I dropped onto a pile of blankets I'd set up for just that purpose.

"I wondered what those blankets were there for." Daisy said. I grabbed my belt and put it on, holstering Baffle, but I couldn't find the handgun.

"Arthur's taking the firearm's test." Scott said. "That way you'll only have one gun to worry about, and he'll be able to help Percival. Two guns are better than one, with two shooters." I nodded and got up, yawning. "Come on. We have to show Daisy around, and you've got longer legs."

"Yeah, that's true." I said. "You're like a, winged pot roast." Daisy put her hands to her mouth, giggling as he flapped his ears. "Kidding. No offense meant." He flapped a few times and took off, but to my surprise he landed on my head, making me stumble. "Do I look like Percy's shoulder?"

"He's not here." He said. "He's helping Arthur." I sighed and gestured for Daisy to follow.

"Well, let's get walking, I guess." I said. "First stop, the cafeteria. I need a drink." She nodded and followed me through the door.

"Mao?" She asked. "When you, shot that Greymon…" I looked at her as she walked up beside me. "I've never, actually deleted a Digimon before… What's it like?"

"Well…" I said. "It's, different for everyone, I guess. For me, I know that I'm deleting a Digimon that could have hurt a lot of people, so, I feel good that I've put something harmful down. And I know some of their data might make it back to the Digital World and let them be reborn. Maybe they'll turn into a good Digimon the next time around."

"But you absorb a lot of the data." She said.

"Not all of it." Scott said. "When we delete a bad Digimon, we only take most of the total data. Probably… A little over half. The rest goes back to the Digital World, but most of it is used to form a portal, so only a little goes back, just enough to create a Digi-Egg." She nodded as I pointed at the cafeteria door. We walked in and I pulled out a few quarters.

"So, do you think you'll be able to fight at your best when you Digivolve?" I asked.

"Uh, yeah." She said. "I hope."

"Well, even if you can't, if you can knock them around long enough for us, that'll be enough." I said. "Not everyone can delete a Digimon."

"No offense Mao, but I'm surprised to hear you say that." Scott said. I looked up at him as I put the quarters into the machine.

"Why?" I asked.

"Well, I mean…" He said. "You have a gun, and you're a Virus…" I shrugged and pressed a button for Dr. Pepper.

"I can see where you're coming from with that." I said. Daisy laughed as the can came out and I picked it up. "Anyway, this is the cafeteria. It usually has plenty of food. Breakfast from fast food places and various kinds of food in the fridge if you feel like cooking for yourself, and vending machines for what you want. It doubles as a break room." I opened the can and Scott pointed to the door, so we started walking.

"Next, the training room." He said.

"Complete with shooting range." I added. "Best room here if you ask me."

"You really like guns…" Daisy said.

"I like my revolver." I said. "He's got character."

"You refer to it as a male a lot." Scott said. "Did you name it or something?"

"Yup." I said. We walked into the training room and Scott tapped my head with his tiny leg.

"What's the name?" He asked.

"Does it matter?" I asked.

"I'd like to know." Daisy said. I shrugged.

"I call him 'Baffle'." I said. "Before you ask, I call him that, because the bullets are always the right type for the job, even if they don't look like it. If I need a hollow point, it already is. If I need armor piercing, that's what I'm firing. If I need an explosive round…"

"Bullets can't explode." Scott said, tapping my head.

"Mine do." I said. "Dark Rounds explode nicely." He tapped my head again. "Keep that up. See what it gets you, flying pot roast." Daisy giggled as I gestured around. "Anyway, as you can see, plenty of exercise equipment, a soundproofed shooting range in the back, and a notice board with all kinds of stuff on it that's interesting." She looked around as humans looked over and laughed quietly. "Next, the lab?"

"Yes." Scott said. "Unless we find Percival and Arthur. Then we'll see what they're up to."  
>…<p>

"Mao, are you okay?" Arthur asked. I looked up at him as he drove. A small group of Virus Digimon were causing trouble at a police station, and the police were unable to do much against them. "You're quiet. You didn't complain about the seat."

"I can't win against it until I Digivolve." I said. "I might as well give up."

"And it has nothing to do with the fact that you have to share a double seat with Daisy?" Percy asked. Daisy giggled.

"I'm just wondering about the number of Digimon coming through lately." I said. "Something's going on. A year ago there were hardly any Digimon coming through, and most were looking for a Tamer so they can live in this world. But seven months ago, the numbers kept going up. It's getting worse."

"Yes, that is true." He said.

"How much of an increase is it?" Annabelle asked. She was sitting next to Daisy, and was pretty friendly with Percy and Arthur already. She talked to us at lunch before we were given our assignment. She told us that she was nineteen, and she was pretty obsessed with the color blue. Blue headband, though it had yellow daisies on it, a light blue tank top, a mid thigh length light blue skirt, light blue sneakers and lighter blue socks, a pair of blue sapphire earrings and a blue metal necklace with sapphires in it. Even her eyes were bright blue, and she had dyed her hair bright blue as well. "Is it as bad as the news said? I mean, it's not really that bad, right?"

"Worse." Percy said. "The news says it's a twenty five percent increase from last year. It's more accurate to say that it's ten times that number. Two and a half times more than last year." My communicator beeped, as did all of the others. I put my finger to mine.

"Squad sixteen, new information has been acquired about your targets." A woman said. "Three Demi-Deivmon, one Impmon, and a Devimon. Caution is advised. One Tamer is already on the scene, high school student with a Garurumon. He is currently holding off the Devimon, but is having trouble." Arthur turned a corner as a Garurumon flew by, landing on the ground before getting up.

"They're out!" Percy said. I unclipped my buckle and jumped out of the window, landing near the Garurumon, who looked at me.

"Same team!" I said quickly. I turned as Scott swooped down and hit the Devimon with his staff, and they began trading blows. Without warning I was picked up by someone. "H-hey." I looked to see a boy as he set me down on the Garurumon.

"Keep him out of that Devimon's line of sight." He said. He raised his thumb and I did the same, leaning down and spotting a collar, which I put my hand near. I drew my revolver as the Garurumon started running toward the Demi-Devimon.

"Steady." I said. I took aim and fired, hitting one through the wing and another through the head.

"Poison Ivy!" Daisy called. I heard a handgun and looked to see Arthur shooting at the Demi-Devimon I'd shot, but I leaned and fired, hitting the one above him.

"Hold on tight shorty!" The Garurumon said. I looked ahead, gripping his fur as he jumped over an attack. He landed and I went to turn when something hit me. I fell to the side and rolled, Baffle ending up a few feet away.

"Okay you two bit copy." The Impmon said. I got up and saw him making fists. "Put up ya dukes!" The Garurumon turned and growled.

"Help the Angemon!" I called. "I've got this guy. I'll take him apart." Garurumon nodded and ran, jumping over us and landing on the Devimon before being kicked off. "As far as I care, you're the cheap copy."

"I'd heard about a freak Impmon with a gun." He said. "Callin' himself somethin' different. Just a fake." He ran at me and jumped, trying to kick me. My arms suddenly felt stronger, so I pushed his foot aside and hit his throat with my arm. He hit the ground, coughing.

"I may not be normal, but I'm real enough to beat you, like a drum." I said. He coughed and got up, holding his throat. He went to point at me, a fireball forming at the tip of his finger, so I opened my mouth. "Imp Breath!" I exhaled a fireball that hit him in the face. His own fireball fell and exploded at his feet. He staggered before running at me again. I caught his fist and punched him in the jaw, knocking him back. I stepped over and grabbed Baffle and pointed it at him, pulling the hammer back.

"You, you will, face judgment." He said. "Our master…" A hand came out of nowhere and grabbed the Impmon's head and crushed it. I turned and pointed my revolver at the Devimon, but, he wasn't a Devimon anymore.

"Oh crap." I said quietly. "Myotismon." Scott was on his knees, and Garurumon was now a Gabumon, out cold and visibly hurt.

"Yes." He said. "And for such a simpleton, that Impmon certainly bought the time I needed, though he has outlived his usefulness. I believe you are curious as to why you aren't hearing your Tamer and his partner's voices." I touched the communicator and heard static. "There is now, a barrier. I am here for you." I narrowed my eyes. "You are not living up to your potential. You could very easily kill the Angel, the wolf, the plant, and all four of those foolish humans with that weapon, and yet you fight beside them, _for_ them."

"They're my friends." I said. "Well, not the Gabumon, but I just met him and his Tamer…" I shrugged. "Who can say?"

"And yet you would die for them?" He asked.

"Yeah, I would." I said. "Part of being the partner of a DGA Tamer."

"I came to find the answer to a question." He said.

"Again with questions." I said. "First a Lady-Devimon, now a Myotismon. What is it with Ultimate level Demon Digimon and asking me questions?" He laughed under his breath and started walking.

"The question should be simple, and if your answer is satisfactory, I leave." He said. "If it is wrong, I will kill you."

"You mean you'll _try_." I said. I tapped my foot, looking at Arthur, and luckily he seemed to take the hint. He was quickly moving the stylus. "Ask, and if you don't like what I say, I run. If you're okay with it, you can leave." Scott slowly got up, readying his staff silently.

"Were you given the option of greater power…" He said. I began thinking. "If it meant your 'Tamer' would no longer be your Tamer, would you take it?"

"No." I said. "Arthur isn't just my Tamer. He's my friend. If it meant I couldn't stay with him, I'd decline in an instant." He laughed quietly and turned suddenly, grabbing Scott's staff. I narrowed my eyes as he threw Scott to the side. "Dark Rounds!" He looked over as I fired three rounds at him. The first two hit his midsection, putting normal sized bullet holes in his body, and the third hit his right shoulder, making him grab it. Without warning I was knocked away by a kick I barely saw. I hit a wall, and Baffle landed on the ground as I coughed from the force of the impact. "D-darn it… That, was, fast…" I looked up as he walked over, slowly, and Scott was slowly moving toward Baffle. I raised my finger for a moment before holding raising my arm. "Blazing Lasso!" His eyes widened behind the mask as I threw it right past him, and he didn't look as Scott grabbed it, and I began pulling him forward, toward Baffle.

"You insolent little pest." He said. "Had you not shot me, I might have let you live. Now I am honor bound to kill you!"

"One thing, big shoe." I said. He narrowed his eyes and he raised a hand as Scott grabbed the revolver. "I wasn't trying to get you with my lasso." He looked back as Scott took aim. "Focus your light!" He smiled and pulled the hammer back.

"Angel Bullet!" He called as he fired. He hit Myotismon right in the chest. He staggered back before falling as I got up. I limped over to Scott while Myotismon coughed and gasped. I held my hand out, but he put Baffle in it as he used his staff to stand. "Finish him off. I need to, check on Gabumon and the others." I nodded as I looked at Baffle and opened it, emptying the spent rounds as I looked at the vampire. I walked over, favoring my left leg, and focused on a single bullet.

"Scott." I called. "I hope you're right thinking I'm strong enough for this."

"You wounded him with three shots." He called back. "One to the head should do it."

"Shadow Reload." I hissed. The bullet formed and I loaded it, making sure it was at the correct chamber. Myotismon looked up at me as he struggled to breathe. He had been hit through the lung, very close to his heart. "I don't care why you came through anymore. You hurt my friends, threatened their lives, and worse still, you made me drop my gun and have an Angel fire it." He gave a weak laugh as I pointed at his head. "Any last words?"

"Use, my data well, Imp." He said. "Traynor will get you, sooner or later." I narrowed my eyes.

"Who's Traynor?" I asked. He was silent, and I knew I wasn't getting an answer. "If that's how you want to play it… Dark Round!" I fired right into his temple and the bullet went through, again not making the large wound I was used to it making on even Champions. After a few seconds his body became a flurry of code, but instead of part of it breaking off and flying elsewhere, only the code that went to the Optimizer split off while all of the rest went into me. It quickly began healing me, and I stepped back and saw Scott carrying the Gabumon to his Tamer. I walked over, still favoring my left leg while I holstered Baffle. When I got over, Arthur knelt and looked at me. "That sucked."

"Yeah." He said. "How did he make that barrier that kept me from telling you that he'd Digivolved?"

"No clue." I said. "He was an Ultimate though. Could have been strong enough to distort the signal."

"My worry is that he Digivolved immediately, very quickly." Percy said. I nodded as I sat down. "He must have been able to regress to his Champion state and then go back to it when he faced a stronger opponent, his opposite."

"Mao, he said something about, someone named Traynor?" Scott asked. I nodded. "What did he say before you shot him?"

"Nothing." I said. "I asked who Traynor was, and he didn't say anything. I knew he wasn't going to talk, so I just shot him." Annabelle walked over with Daisy. "Is everyone alright?"

"Yes." Annabelle said. "Apart from Scott, Gabumon and, you. That looked like it hurt." I stood straighter and closed my left eye, rotating my arm while holding the shoulder.

"Nah, that was just me playing for the crowd." I said. She laughed with Percy while Arthur put his hat on my head, pulling it down hard and making them laugh a little more. "Seriously though, what did I get out of that? Twenty, thirty gigs?"

"Uh, none." Arthur said. "It says that, something's developing, but it's not harmful." I looked up as I fixed the hat. "Maybe, it'll let you Digivolve?" I shrugged.

"Sure would be nice." I said.

"You'll be awesome." The high school Tamer said. I looked at him. "I mean, y-you're a Rookie, right?"

"Yup." I said.

"You can hurt and even _delete_ an Ultimate." He said. "When you get to Champion, you'll be a lot stronger. That Myotismon would have been _shredded_ if you were, whatever your Champion form is." Arthur laughed.

"Don't encourage him." He said. "He's got a big enough head as it is."

"Literally." Scott said dryly. Everyone laughed, even me, and I held my hand up to him.

"Nice one." I said. He reluctantly put his palm to mine, a small smirk just visible as he walked toward the van.


	8. Dinner with friends, changes in data

**It's a little late, and it's been a while, but I feel this chapter is ready to post. It's mostly filler but leads up to some action near the end, and we learn a little more about the Digimon of the team, among other things. A big change is in store for the team in the next few chapters, though it's been a while since I've done any work, so don't expect regular updates.**

**I'm doing work on other stories when I can, but inspiration has been a little rare lately, and what is there just as rarely is what I was looking for. For the time being, Gallade's Arm and Jack's Journey are on hold for a while, and I'm mostly working on side projects, but have some chapters ready for Changing Tides and one more for Digital Sheriff, along with some stuff for a new story I may post within the next few months, after I get the chapters set right. They're nearly ready, but not _exactly_ how I want them.**

**That said, I'd like reviews on how I'm doing, and I want to know if anyone has OCs for any of my stories. It might be what sets off the spark that will help the next chapter along. But at the same time, I've stopped taking requests because I don't think I can do them anymore, at least not now. The reason for this is that I only seem to get requests for Pokémon stories, which is causing me to burn out on Pokémon, which is what's slowing me down. After a while, I'll get back to them, but I just need time. So until then, Digimon, One Piece, and maybe something new. Hopefully it will take off, but it's one that I'm positive will be a bit of a sleeper.**

**Without further ado: I, Lord Genesis Shadow, do hereby state that I do not own the rights to Digimon. I just like it enough to create a new line of Digimon and a story about peace keepers. Should the creators of Digimon ask to use my characters and story, all I ask is that I be allowed to see how it's going and maybe give my two cents now and then. Won't happen, but it's my story, and I'd like to see the spirit remain intact.  
>…<strong>

I happily took a bite of the hamburger while the others spoke in the kitchen. Percy and Annabelle were hungry after the fight, and after we gave our report, Arthur suggested they have dinner at our home, something that Percy agreed with due to me mentioning that Mara was the best cook around. Annabelle agreed since she, like Percy, wanted to see if I was telling the truth. There weren't enough chairs for all of us, specifically Scott and Daisy, so we were eating in the front room, carefully.

"Wow, this is really good." Daisy said. I nodded.

"You weren't exaggerating when you said Mara was a great cook." Scott added. I swallowed and smiled.

"I wouldn't kid about her cooking." I said. "The first thing I ate after coming to this world, was a meatball she made. It was the best thing I'd ever tasted… More so because I hadn't eaten in a few days." They laughed I took another bite.

"Well, after that battle, this is a good reward for you two." Daisy said. "I, was useless."

"You were too busy protecting our Tamers." Scott said calmly. I nodded while Daisy looked down, smiling a little. "But if anyone has earned a reward, it would be Mao. Standing up to an Ultimate when he knew full well a single attack could be the end of him. Reckless, but, I am grateful nonetheless."

"Not like you weren't pulling your weight." I said. I looked at him. "You knew just as well as I did that his attacks could have finished you in one shot if he hit the right place." He looked at the plate, now empty. "We all had important jobs. Daisy, you protected our friends while I rode that Garurumon into battle, and Scott, you fought a Devimon, probably to a standstill, even after he Digivolved." He smirked. "And me… I shot down the Demi-Devimon and beat up an Impmon before Myotismon killed him. We saved, uh, the police station… Mostly." Daisy laughed as I put the last of the burger in my mouth.

"Don't forget, I managed to use your revolver to create a new attack." He said. I nodded as I chewed. "Not exactly my first choice of weapon, but I'll admit, Baffle came through, flawlessly." I swallowed.

"That reminds me, I need to get my cleaning kit." I said. "Gotta be at my best, and to do that, Baffle needs to be clean and in top condition." I picked up my drink and took a sip while Daisy slid off of the couch with her empty plate.

"Would Mrs. Rowe mind if I had another?" She asked. I set the cup down and stood up.

"I was thinking the same thing." I said. "She's always got plenty to go around." Before we could walk away, Mara walked in with three plates, which she handed to us.

"I thought you three would still be hungry." She said. "I know Mao well enough to know that after a rough battle, a Digimon is going to be very hungry." I smiled.

"Thank you, Mrs. Rowe." Scott said. "I imagine you must work as a chef at a very nice restaurant from time to time to keep your culinary skills so sharp." Mara smiled as she waved her hand.

"Oh, those days are behind me." She said. "These days it's all to take care of my children, and Mao of course." I sat down as I held up my burger.

"And such great care we are shown." I said happily. They laughed as she walked toward the kitchen.

"Mao, do you know where Arthur's father is?" Scott asked. "It's hardly past noon, but, I don't see any pictures." I shrugged.

"I haven't seen him." I said, turning as Daisy climbed back on the couch. "To be completely honest, Arthur's only mentioned him once since I've been here, and Mara doesn't talk about him that much, to me at least. All I know is that he's a Marine on tour, but Arthur and I don't know where." I looked at my plate. "But, a year ago, Arthur said there were fourteen months left for his tour, so, he'll be back in about a month and a half, give or take." I shrugged when Scott suddenly set his burger down and began drinking his water quickly. I fought a laugh as Daisy stood up.

"Are you okay, Scott?" She asked quickly. I held my hand out and raised my thumb toward the kitchen, and I saw Mara smiling and returning the gesture while Scott shook his head.

"This is, intensely spicy." He said. "Far more than the first one." I laughed quietly.

"Yeah, about that." I said. "I asked Mara give you a super spicy burger for seconds." He looked at me as I winked. "Mischief happens when you least expect it." He leaned forward and took my burger, setting his down. "Hey, Scott, I wouldn't do that." He took a bite and I smirked. "I asked that mine be even spicier than the one you had." He was silent before swallowing and jumping up, and I just barely caught the plate and burger as he walked quickly to the kitchen, his mouth wide open as he opened the fridge.

"Scott, what's wrong?" Percy asked.

"He took a bite of my burger after he found out Mara and I pranked him!" I called.

"Scott, milk won't do much for that." Mara said. "Here, drink this."

"Dare I?" He asked. Arthur laughed.

"Trust her this time." He said. "I accidentally ate one of Mao's burgers one time, and that was the only thing that made it bearable." Scott quickly drank a dark liquid and sighed after he set the glass down, shivering. "Milk, molasses, and honey, a blanket against the spices." Daisy giggled into her hands as I took a bite of my burger while Mara gave him a regular one.

"I'm sorry, but sometimes Mao can be persuasive." Mara said. "And I must admit, sometimes I give in because I think it's funny."

"Imps will be Imps." I called. Our Tamers laughed while Scott thanked Mara and walked back in with a fresh cup of water, sitting down and looking at me. "Better to get it out of my system while I can. If not, watch where you step. There might be a tripwire leading to a bucket of soap and a fan in front of a pile of feathers."

"I can forgive you, this time." He said. "Next time, I'll stop at the first hamburger of fire." I laughed.

"Yeah, mine's the Napalm Special." I said. I took another bite as Daisy drank her water. "But hey, dessert's right after this, and if my nose is right, you'll forgive me."

"If you've not tampered with it." He said. I put my hand to my chest.

"I'm not about to mess with dessert." I said honestly. "Mara's made Arthur's and my favorite. Cherry cheesecake."

"Yet, it won't be spicy." He said.

"Smooth, delicious, moist, with a perfect balance of flavor." I said, closing my eyes. "You won't find better anywhere, I promise you that." I opened my eyes. "Now, I have to stop myself before I get the urge to run into the kitchen and take a huge bite out of it."  
>…<p>

"So, you can use other Digimon's attacks…" Daisy said. "That's, awesome." I nodded as I adjusted my hammock. We'd set up in the living room and Scott had de-Digivolved back to a Patamon after the cheesecake, which about made Percy propose to Mara, had she not already been married. "That fireball?"

"Pepper Breath." I said. "I call it Imp Breath. Spicy. More than my hamburger."

"I'm thankful, then." Scott said. I laughed as I climbed into the hammock.

"Well, when I used your Boom Bubble, Dark Bubble as I call it, I tasted, grape." I said. "Not sure why."

"I don't taste anything when I use it." He said.

"Differences in data." I said. "It's the way the ball rolls. You don't taste it, I taste grape, and maybe some other Patamon tastes, I don't know, watermelon… In which case I'd be jealous, because I like watermelon more than I like grape." Daisy laughed as I rolled to look at them.

"So, what do we do now?" Daisy asked. "I'm not tired."

"Same here." Scott said.

"Well, we could, talk, get to know each other." She suggested.

"Sounds good to me." Scott said, looking at me.

"What?" I asked after a second. Daisy looked at me as well. "I think I've shared more than you two." They laughed.

"Yeah, that's true." Daisy said. "I guess, since I'm the new Digimon here…" She sat down as Scott settled onto a pillow under a small blanket. "Uh, I don't know where to start."

"How about when you got to the human world?" Scott asked.

"Yeah, that was a fun day." She said. "I came here about, three months ago. I landed in the computer room of a greenhouse in the morning, where Ann worked part time. When I got there, I saw, all kinds of things in the dirt all around after walking out. Pumpkins, watermelon, tomatoes, potatoes, all kinds of vegetables, but I thought they were other Digimon. I tried talking to them, but obviously they didn't answer." I put my hands behind my head as Scott moved the blanket with his ears. "Ann heard me and came in, thinking I was someone else. She wasn't even scared of me at first. She just, walked over and put her hand on my head near my flower, and we started talking. She explained where I was, and while we were talking, she just, found a Digivice in her pocket." Her Digivice was a D-arc, like Scott's. "Since then, we've been really good friends. But, she decided to quit her job, to join the DGA."

"You ended up in a pretty appropriate place." I said. Scott nodded. "First place you see, a place where plants are grown to be the best." She giggled. "Me, hardly appropriate. I show up at a computer classroom in the afternoon, Arthur's helping his teacher, and he gets the Optimizer on his hand. Then we go home, I help set the table and test the food, and, I'm the Rowe family Digimon." She smiled.

"What about you, Scott?" She asked. "When did you get here?"

"About six years ago." He said. "Percy was working on a thesis paper and I appeared in the room as he went to get a drink. When he came back, he was surprised, but he was really nice to me. He told me where I was, and offered to take care of me until I figured out what I'd do. When the Digivice appeared, well… We worked hard to be a good team, and we're great friends."

"Sounds like we all showed up at the right time in the right places." I said. "I mean, knowing me as well as I do, if I had shown up a few hours later, I would have probably raided the fridge in the cafeteria and set up where I could do a few pranks before meeting a Tamer that might not have been Arthur."

"I think the same would have happened to me, had I appeared, the day before, or after." Daisy said. "I mean, having a different Tamer. Ann's been a really good friend to me." Scott yawned quietly but shook his head. "I wonder, what we'll be like, when we're all Champions… Will we really be a better team?"

"I think we will." I said. "A Togemon and Angemon, and whatever I'll turn into, and… Whoever else joins the squad and whatever their Digimon turns into, I think by then, we'll be a great team."

"I agree." Scott said. "The next emergency they call on us for, we'll see just how well we really can work together." I nodded as Daisy moved to a spot near the window. "So, Mao, your turn."

"I've already told you both how I got here." I said.

"How about, where you're from, in the Digital World?" Daisy suggested. I thought for a moment. "Mao?"

"It's been a while." I said. "I left my home when I became a Rookie. I don't know if I have parents or, if I was reborn after being deleted. All I know for sure is that I lived in a ghost town for a few months after hatching, and luckily there was some food so I could become a Rookie." They were silent but I shrugged. "So, Scott, what about you?"

"Oh, I'm from a little village on File Island." He said. "It's full of mostly Patamon and Gatomon waiting to Digivolve into Angemon and Angewomon to go to a monastery on a nearby mountain. I hear it's a nice place, but I don't think I could live there."

"What do they do?" Daisy asked. Scott shrugged his wings.

"No idea." He said. "I left because I wanted to do some good in the human world. I knew that things were different, so I thought it'd be a better life." I nodded.

"Kind of, like me." She said. "I was born in, a little nameless forest, and I had a pretty small family, but my parents just, wanted a lot from me. So, one day, I spotted this portal to this world and figured, it has to be better than what my parents wanted for me. I took my chance. And, so far, I'm having a lot of fun." She smiled as she looked at me, so I smiled as Scott settled into the blanket and pillow.

"You know, I've heard that they're planning on making teams about four or five Tamers strong." He said. We looked at him. "That means, we'll have another couple of friends, maybe four."

"That'll make Mara happier." I said. "Arthur has new friends, and that's going to make it a lot easier for him to get his mother to leave him alone." They laughed as I smiled. "That also means I'll have new friends. I couldn't ask for much better."

"I know how you feel." Daisy said. "It's nice to have friends."  
>…<p>

"Mao, wake up, we're on!" Arthur called. I shot up and promptly fell out of my hammock, landing on the floor, but I scrambled up as Scott, in his Angemon form, ran out through the door while Annabelle carried Daisy out. I quickly got my belt on and holstered Baffle as Arthur ran out. As I got to the door, Percy picked me up and we ran toward the van. "Sorry buddy, but they just called us." I looked around and saw that it was early morning, the sun just starting to rise. "We're the closest to this one." Percy set me down and clipped me into the child seat as I let out a wide mouthed yawn, my eyes closed as he shut the door. While my mouth was open, I suddenly had something placed in my mouth. As I opened my eyes, I tasted that it was sweet, and I looked to see Ann moving back to her seat.

"Breakfast muffin." She said. I closed my mouth as Percy got in.

"What about me?" Arthur asked. The others laughed as I began chewing the muffin, and I saw Daisy was eating one as well.

"You had yours." Percy said. "And you're driving. Allons, hurry, we must get to the park." I continued chewing, trying to get the muffin down, but my mouth was dry. As if she knew, Ann handed me a small plastic bottle with milk. I bowed my head as she laughed.

"You're welcome." She said. I drank most of it and swallowed the muffin before drinking the rest.

"What's the Digimon this time?" I asked.

"A few." Percy said as Arthur started driving. "A Champion, a Devimon to be exact. Hopefully this time it won't surprise us and Digivolve. What is truly strange, is that there is a Dorumon with him. A handful of DemiDevimon, the Dorumon, and a Devimon… A lot of Viruses. It's strange."

"Any backup?" I asked.

"Yes, this time, we are getting help from a Tamer with a MetalGreymon." Percy said. "They're already on the way."

"If this Devimon does suddenly Digivolve, we'll have a trump card." Arthur said. "No way we'll be caught off guard this time."

"I can handle the DemiDevimon." Daisy said. "I'll catch them with my Poison Ivy. You, handle the Dorumon."

"And I'll work on the Devimon until the MetalGreymon arrives." Scott said over the radio. "Mao, no heroics, got it?"

"Got it." I said. "Same goes for you though."  
>…<p>

I slowly stepped to the right as the Dorumon stared me down. Arthur had already scanned him, and something was off. Something, strange. The attack gained, Metal Cannon. It let me spit a metal ball about as big as a thirty two caliber bullet, but I knew my bullets were more effective… If I hadn't have had Baffle knocked out of my hand by a Metal Cannon shot. Something else was off. I felt, different, strange. It was, like some new data had taken root in my body, and it wasn't harmful, but it certainly wasn't familiar enough for me to work with.

"You won't win this, furball." I said. "Go back to the Digital World or I'm going to send your code there." It just growled as we circled. Daisy had the DemiDevimon caught in a lot of her Poison Ivy, but she couldn't hold them forever. Eventually, they would be able to break free and attack her, and enough Demi Darts were potentially lethal.

"Freak." The Dorumon said.

"Nothing I haven't been called before." I said.

"You shouldn't be with these humans." He said.

"Stop." I said. "I'm not about to go through this, not two days in a row. Save your speech, and just get out of here, or I'm going to put a hole in that gem on your head." He suddenly rushed me, hitting me in the chest with a hard kick. I was so surprised I was pushed back repeatedly until I managed to grab his mouth, closing it as he tried to use his Metal Cannon again. He growled and tried to talk, but I just punched him in the gut. "Take, this!" I hit him repeatedly before throwing him back and opening my mouth. "Spirit Blaze!" I exhaled a stream of fire at him but he jumped away. As I panted from the heat burning my tongue, I looked at him. "Imp Steel Spit!" I formed the ball of metal in my mouth to mimic his attack.

"Metal Cannon!" He called. I fired the ball just as he fired his, and his shot missed me, while mine caught him in the leg, pushing him down, but to my surprise he got up and rushed me. Before I could react, he slammed into me, slashing my torso with his claws until I kicked him off.

"Nuts to this." I said angrily. I grabbed a red tipped bullet and put it between my fingers, pointing it at him before forming a ball of fire behind it. "Red Tip!" The bullet fired with a lot less force than usual, but the burning bullet hit his shoulder with a pop. Since it didn't burrow in, though, it just burned some of his fur and maybe put some small shrapnel a little into his skin, but not enough to be dangerous.

"Metal Cannon!" He called. He shot the ball at me, and this time it hit me in the shoulder, and I felt it go through. I fell back, breathing hard, and all I could hear was my heart pounding in my ears. "You'll, die soon. For now, I'll get that, stupid plant." He started walking away as my vision blurred. It had been some time since I'd actually had such a bad injury. Myotismon hadn't done so much to me, but then, he only had to hit me once to injure me. This, was worse.

"Mao, M-Mao, can you move?" Arthur asked quickly. "Mao!" For a moment, everything went dark, but just as fast as I had been shot, I suddenly felt a surge of energy, and the pain just, vanished. I got up slowly, and I took a step as Dorumon turned. "Mao, wh-what's going on?"

"Hey!" I called. "Get over here you fur covered wuss! I've got a bone to pick with you!" He stared for a moment as I walked forward. I felt, taller, and I could tell my legs and arms were a little longer. Whatever was going on, I felt, different. "Come on!" He opened his mouth.

"Metal Cannon!" He called. I turned slightly and dodged the shot, and I heard a thud. "D-damn it." Daisy ran into the bushes as the DemiDevimon took to the air, but I grabbed Baffle as I walked past it, and I felt it change. The barrel felt heavier. I raised it calmly.

"Dark Rounds!" I called. I fired five shots, hitting all but Dorumon. The DemiDevimon dropped, their code flowing to me while a bit went to Arthur, the rest to the Digital World, hopefully. As Dorumon went to speak, I simply pointed at him and drew the hammer back.

"Y-you!" He started to yell. I pulled the trigger and the bullet hit the gem in his forehead, but it continued through his skull. As his code formed from his body, some of it seemed different, but it flowed into my body nonetheless. I lowered Baffle and looked to see Devimon being finished by a single hit from the MetalGreymon, but, just as suddenly as my rush of power came, I felt it go away, and I just, fell over, hard, onto my back.

"Mao!" Arthur called. "Mao!"

"Sleepy…" I said tiredly. "Nighty, night, Arty, boy…" My head rolled to the side as my eyes closed. I just, blacked out.


	9. Alive and well, recovering and dreaming

**Here we are, December twenty first, twenty twelve. End of the world? We'll see soon enough. But you're not here for that. You're here to see what happened to Mao after that cliffhanger last time. He was hurt, transformed, and changed back, no worse for the wear. Or, is that the case… Let's take a look.**

**Disclaimer: I, Lord Genesis Shadow, do not own the rights to Digimon.  
>…<strong>

"I'm not sure what happened…" Arthur said. "C-can you… I can't understand this stuff." I heard movement, but didn't open my eyes.

"I think, I can somewhat understand this." A woman said. "It seems he's, absorbed X Antibody data. It's rare these days, but, it changes some Digimon into a slightly more powerful form… It seems that the X Antibody in Mao is, modified. I'm not sure what changes there are, but… Your Optimizer says, that your first scan created a small amount of it, and, when Mao was hurt, there was a spike in power, and the new data took root. Look here…" I slowly opened my eyes to see Arthur holding the screen out, and I could see an image of myself, but, at the same time, it wasn't me. "GunImpmon X. Three inches taller, limbs lengthened to compensate, color distortion, and… Even his clothing changed color. When he picked up his revolver, it, like Mao himself, changed with the data."

"S-so, that was, an X Antibody…" He said quietly. "Nothing else changed?"

"No, a lot changed." She said. "Look here. His attacks are even stronger. You said he could take down Champions with his Dark Rounds?" Arthur nodded as I slowly sat up. "Well, in this state, he's actually not too much more powerful, but his data is equivalent to a low level Champion. Very low, however, he could theoretically hold his own against Scott, but, it seems that this X Data is incompatible with copied attacks, or his body being 'Optimized'." When I fully sat up, I looked at my hands, my gloves. Memories flashed by from those moments. When I raised Baffle, I saw that my gloves had gone from black with red stitching to white with blue stitching. Baffle went from being dark gray, nearly black, to being, oily chrome almost. Even my skin was different, light blue. Looking at the Optimizer's screen, my neckerchief turned blue, and the star was black with something silver showing. "If we could get a scan of this, it would be very useful to figure out why it, triggered when it did, instead of right away, and why he reverted back."

"If I just knew how it worked in the first place." I said. They looked at me and stared as I put my hand to my shoulder, where I'd been shot. "Believe me, I'd love to know how to use that, Negative Mode."

"N-Negative…" Arthur said. "Mao, are you alright?" The woman looked at me and shined a bright light directly into my eyes, one after the other.

"All scans say he'll be fine." She said. "Just making sure of that."

"Does 'fine' mean I won't have to be blind in both eyes?" I asked as she moved back.

"You're lucky." She said. "If that X Antibody hadn't done what it did to you, you probably would have probably died from that attack. From what the Optimizer's status readings said, you were bleeding, badly, and had it not been for that sudden transformation, you would have bled _out_." I rubbed the spot.

"Yeah, lucky…" I said quietly. I looked up. "What about Scott and Daisy? Are they okay?"

"Yeah, they're fine." Arthur said. "Thanks to you dropping those DemiDevimon and that, that Dorumon…" He sighed. "Man, if you hadn't shot them, they might have chased after Daisy." He took off his hat and ran his fingers through his hair. "Geeze, I was, I was worried there Mao. I thought for sure you were a goner. Wh-when you got up…" He gestured to me as he lowered the hat. "I just, I almost passed out. I thought you were going to just, sacrifice yourself, or something."

"I, didn't even have any real control…" I said quietly. "I just, got up, and, it was like I was, watching a movie or something. When I, said what I said… It was like, it wasn't me."

"It scared the fertilizer out of Daisy, I'll tell you that much." Arthur said. I fought a laugh, but nodded. "And Scott just went ballistic. He wanted me to wake you up just so he could knock you out again." I sighed before looking up at him.

"Do you have a helmet I can borrow, then?" I asked. He laughed and put his hat on my head.

"Here." He said. "Is he good to go?"

"Yes." She said. "He's healthy, and stronger than before. The code he absorbed made sure of that." I got up and Arthur held out Baffle, and I took the now normal gunmetal gray revolver, holstering it and jumping down. "Before you go, Mao, take it easy for a few days." I looked at her, but nodded. "Due to your injury, you're all off duty for a few days. So you won't have to worry about anything for a while."

"Come on, you crazy purple, Imp." Arthur said. He opened the door and walked out, and I followed him. As we walked, I saw that we were in the DGA medical wing. I'd been there only once for a scan of my data, and Arthur had a full checkup, which made him blush for about twenty minutes afterward. Ever since then, anytime he saw the female doctor that gave him the checkup, he just blushed right away. "Mao, what, was it like, that change? I mean, apart from, pretty much losing control?"

"I felt, stronger." I said. "It was like, I stepped into a whole new body… Kind of like, Digivolving from a Tin Yaamon to GunImpmon. It was, like that, but, different… Geeze, how to explain that one to a human." He laughed. "Think of it like this. It's like going from a dream, to being awake, and knowing it. One second, you're something else, something nothing like you were before, like a superhero." He nodded as I looked up at him. "Imagine that feeling, if you can." He smiled a little. "Then think about what it is to be yourself. It's the space between that. Going from a dream to reality, that was what it was like."

"What about Digivolving?" He asked.

"The same feeling between the change, but then it's just reality." I said. "And getting used to it is, kind of weird. I mean, when I was a Tin Yaamon, I didn't have arms or legs, and then I Digivolve and…" I held my arms out. "I'm walking around, grabbing stuff, because I _can_." He laughed. "Come on, it was like 'are these mine' one moment, and the next it's 'oh, oh yes, I can do something with these… And this gun'." He laughed as he opened a door and I walked out ahead of him, only to receive a swat to the head. It wasn't a hand, but it wasn't a wing either.

"That's for making us worry!" Daisy said. I felt something swat me over the head, so I covered myself quickly.

"That's for not telling us about that little transformation!" Scott said. I felt Percy pick me up.

"Hey, leave him alone, he just got up." He said. I was set on his shoulder, but I moved so that I could see the others. "But Mao, what was that back there?"

"Well, I don't, honestly know." I said, shrugging. "Apparently, X Data from that Dorumon… I guess. I hear Dorumon have X Antibodies far more often than any other Digimon. You know… Stuff happens."

"Still, you could have warned us." Percy said.

"It was as much a surprise to me." I said honestly. He slowly picked me up and set me down, but Daisy suddenly hugged me. "H-hey, personal space here."

"Mao, you're our friend." Ann said. I looked at her as she crouched. "You scared us when you, got hit like that. And then you got up, we didn't know you weren't still bleeding." She hugged me as well and I flailed my free arm.

"I was going to chew you out for being a hero." Scott said. "I was going to fly in, take out the Dorumon and DemiDevimon, but then you took them out. I was ready to yell at you. Your obvious discomfort now though… Don't push yourself. Just concentrate on healing if you can."

"Y-yeah…" I said. "Can't, breathe." The girls let go of me and I shivered a little.

"Mao, what's wrong with you?" Arthur asked. "Anytime someone hugs you, you just, act like you hate it."

"I don't like, being touched." I said quietly. Daisy laughed as Ann fixed the cap. "I blame you, Arthur. I didn't have friends for sixteen years, and then for a year it was you, me, your mom, and your little sister…" I held my arms out. "I haven't been hugged once except by your sister, and that was when she thought I was a toy!" They all laughed. "And now I'm being hugged again? Without warning…" Daisy hugged me again and I flailed my arms. "Oh, come on…"

"She was worried." Ann said. "We all were. Even Scott."

"Though he'd never admit it." Percy added. They all laughed, save Scott, who just looked away.  
>…<p>

I drank the soda as Arthur looked over the new information. For once he was studying it to actually learn something important, not just to figure out some new thing. He wanted to know how the whole X transformation worked, and if I could do it at will somehow. Thus far, he was just quietly reading as I leaned back and drank my soda. Percy and Ann were playing chess while Scott meditated, and Daisy was sitting in the sun, just taking in the light while watching us all.

"Okay." Arthur said. "I think I've got it."

"Checkmate." Ann said as she stood up.

"Hang on now…" Percy said quickly. I looked over as he moved his hand and seemed in thought. "Uh… Darn, never mind. Checkmate indeed." She walked over as he got up.

"Apparently this only works in emergencies." Arthur said. "If you experience a major adrenaline surge, like, if you're really in danger and you've got your heart rate up high enough and you really need it, I can activate it, or you can if you can't reach me. But, there's a time limit. I don't know why, but after a while your body just, rejects it." I walked over and looked. "So you just, automatically, revert to normal. But this isn't all that bad. If you use it when you need it, you'll be a lot stronger in an emergency, and it pushes your body to the limit, way higher than what I can do with the Optimizer." I nodded as Percy put his hand to his chin.

"So, basically, this is like, a super adrenaline rush." I said.

"Yeah, more or less." He said.

"Great." Scott said. "When we're up against some Digimon that we can't handle, we'll have a surprise waiting for them."

"A little ace in the hole." I said. "I like it."

"So save it for when we really need it." He said. I nodded and drank more of the soda, and found that it was the last of it. "Just don't start thinking you can take on Ultimates now. You're strong, but you're not that strong."

"I know." I said. "But, I wonder what this means if I ever manage to go Champion."

"I shudder to think." Percy said. "A Rookie that can kill a Champion with a single well placed shot Digivolving to Champion? If Mao follows a pattern, next up, Ultimates are going to be his prey, oui?"

"Maybe." Daisy said. "But knowing Mao, I'm going to guess he'll say 'if I get the shot'." They looked at me and I pointed at her.

"What she said I'd say." I said. They laughed quietly, save for Scott, who just went on with his meditation. "But, seriously, it's not like I just go after Champions… Uh, Monochromon, Tyrannomon, and Greymon, and I guess Devimon excluded from that…" Arthur laughed as he lowered the Optimizer.

"It's not like Mao chases after stronger foes." He said. "It's just, if we can get the drop on bad Champion level Digimon, we'll take the risk, because other Tamers _will_ show up. Even if they'd just be a distraction, that means an opening where Mao can put a Dark Round right where he needs it to go. Yeah, he's a Champion killer, but that doesn't make him a Champion _hunter_."

"Well put." Percy said, patting Arthur's back lightly.

"So, what now?" Ann asked. We were just in the courtyard, resting mostly. "We've got a few days off. There has to be something we can do together."

"I think something slow, just until we're sure Mao's good." Arthur said. Percy nodded as Scott got up.

"Knowing Mao, he's going to suggest an amusement park or something." Scott said.

"Actually, I think a movie would be nice." I said. Scott seemed surprised. "What?" Daisy and Ann laughed while Arthur put his hand on my head, rubbing the spot between my ears.

"Good thinking." He said. "What movies are playing?"

"Three Stooges!" Ann and Daisy said together.

"Three, what?" Percy and Scott asked together. Arthur and I looked at them.

"What?" We asked together. I looked at him and then we looked at the girls.

"Okay, this is getting creepy, let's talk one at a time." I said. Arthur laughed. "Okay, Percy, Scott, the Three Stooges are three guys, Larry, Moe, and Curly. Three close friends, closer in bond than brothers, but a bigger trio of idiots you will never find."

"It's slapstick humor at its finest, and no crude jokes to get a shock laugh." Arthur added.

"It's good clean fun." Ann said. "Just three guys doing normal things, making them difficult, and then they start bickering and slapping, poking, and hitting each other."

"Like this." I said, popping Arthur in the shin with a fake kick. He jumped up and hopped on one foot while holding his leg.

"And this." Ann said, pretending to slap him. He ran his hand down his face.

"And this." He said, pointing two fingers up. But as he went to poke her in the eyes she blocked him with her hand, laughing triumphantly before he held up his index fingers and got her from two angles, in the forehead, of course. She pretended to hold her face while stomping, so I kicked his shin again. The others laughed while we carried on for a few minutes before Arthur gestured to the van. "Let's see when the next showing is."  
>…<p>

"_Hey, shrimp!" A young voice called. I didn't look over. I was just standing on the tips of my toes as I pulled down a box of cereal and looked at it before walking toward the cart at the end of the aisle. Rice Krispies, to make treats for later. "Hey!" I jogged over when something grabbed my neckerchief, making me gag as my legs went out from under me. "I was talking to you, Virus!" I looked up to see, a Gabumon._

"_Go away." I said. I got up but he grabbed my shoulder, turned me, and grabbed my neckerchief and held me up._

"_I don't like viruses." He said coldly. "I'm going to delete you when my Tamer gets here." I narrowed my eyes._

"_Buzz off, I've got a Tamer." I said._

"_We don't care." A human said. "Viruses are all evil." I kicked the Gabumon in the stomach, making him back off as he let go of me. Baffle was in the minivan, so I couldn't just brandish it and scare them off, nor could I do that anyway because it was a public location._

"_Leave me alone!" I said. "All I'm doing is minding my own business!"_

"_Little, punk!" The boy said. "Get him!"_

"_Blue Blaster!" The Gabumon called. I dodged the blue fire and heard a warning coming over the loudspeakers, but I just turned and ran, grabbing the cereal._

"_Arthur!" I called. "Trouble!" I skidded and avoided another Blue Blaster that struck the meat counter, breaking the glass and making the butcher take cover. I ran forward and saw Mara, so I tossed the cereal to her. "Hi mom! Bye mom!" I ran past her as I heard the kid and his Gabumon chasing us. "Arthur! Where are you?!" I ran down an aisle quickly and skidded at the end, going down a corner as a security guard ran past me. "That way! Gabumon!" His partner looked at me as I looked around, panting. "You see a kid in a… A black hoodie with a blue ball cap?" He slowly pointed to the exit, but Arthur ran in with Baffle. "Thanks." I ran to Arthur and jumped up, and he caught me while I took Baffle._

"_How'd this start?" He asked._

"_Jerk just, grabbed my neckerchief, threatened me, so I ran." I said. "I'll just use, Badda-Boom Shots." He nodded as the first security guard ran out of the aisle and Arthur tossed me up, and I landed on a checkout conveyor. "Pardon me." I took aim as the Gabumon slid to a halt, along with the boy. "Now you two chill out! I didn't do anything to bother you!"_

"_All Viruses are evil!" Gabumon called. I made a fist._

"_You Digivolve _into_ a virus!" I said angrily. "Idiot!" He growled as I focused the flame. "Either chill out or just leave!"_

"_You tell him, Mao!" Mara called from where she was._

"_If I turn into a Virus, I won't be evil!" Gabumon called. I stomped._

"_You, friggin' idiot!" I yelled. "That just means not all Viruses are evil!"_

"_Could you be any more thickheaded?!" Arthur asked quickly. Gabumon looked at him and opened his mouth._

"_Badda-Boom Shot!" I called, pulling the trigger. The reddish fireball hit him in the gut, pushing him back but not hurting him. "Wanna try for another? These don't use bullets."_

"_We'll get you for this!" The boy called. He ran toward the exit and Gabumon chased him, and Arthur nodded, so I took aim._

"_Badda-Boom Shots!" I called, firing repeatedly. Each shot popped after them, not damaging anything as they ran, covering their backsides from close flames._

"_Sir, Digimon, we'll have to take you with us for security reasons." A security guard said. I holstered Baffle. "We'll review the tapes, and if you started this…" I looked at him as he pointed at me. "You're banned from the store."_  
>…<p>

I rolled out of my hammock and landed softly, yawning quietly as I walked across the room carefully. I was thirsty, so I went toward the kitchen. But when I got in, the light came on. I covered my eyes and looked up to see Scott, in his Angemon form.

"What's up, besides us?" I asked tiredly. He pushed a glass of water forward. He was sitting at the table. I climbed up on the chair and looked at the glass before slowly taking it and drinking a little water.

"Mao, I've got an issue that, I'd like to clear up." He said, anger barely hidden behind the calm tone. I nodded as I set the glass down. "I told you not to play the hero. While I'm glad you're alright, you should have stayed down. I was going to save Daisy. You should have just stayed in that, X form, and recovered."

"It's not like I could totally control myself." I said honestly. "When I changed, something just, made me stand up. Then it made me walk forward, taunt the Dorumon, and then… Grab Baffle and put the Rookies down. I don't know what happened. I just, did it, and passed out." He was silent for a moment.

"So, when you use that state, you can't truly control yourself." He said. I noted the way that it was a statement, not a question, like he had an answer that he wanted, though not the right one.

"Not like, one hundred percent, but I knew kind of what I was doing." I said. "I just, wanted to protect my friends. Shooting the DemiDevimon and Dorumon, were the end result." I shrugged.

"What if you transform again and suddenly, lose the distinction between friend and foe?" He asked. "If you were mad at me when you used the X Vaccine data to change, would you attack me because of it?"

"No." I said. "W-well… I… I don't know. At this point, there's no way to test it. I can only use it for two minutes anyway, and you're a Champion. You're faster, stronger, and you can fly. Even changed, I doubt I'll suddenly gain more speed than you. Even with the Optimizer, I could probably just manage to match your land speed, your physical strength and a little more, and maybe use my Lasso to try to misdirect you or tie up your wings." He grunted quietly. "But I wasn't trying to play the hero. I just… No one expected that change, Scott. It was just… It was a fluke, luck that it was a Dorumon that Arthur scanned. If he hadn't, then, I'd be dead right now." His expression softened somewhat. "Think about it, if I hadn't suddenly used the X transformation, I would have probably bled to death. I would have been on the ground, bleeding, while that Dorumon might have been able to shoot Daisy, or one of our Tamers. It was luck, and I will _happily_ be the first to admit that, because I'm glad I've got this new data and saved Daisy's life…"

"Just, be careful with it." He said. "You're not a Champion, and you're not invincible." I nodded. "Leave the Champions to me when possible. I'll take whatever help you can give me, just don't push it."

"You've got my word." I said.


	10. Recovered Strength, Another New Friend

**A few weeks without posting, I just don't know why. But I'm posting now, late into the day. Again, I don't know why. But here we are, chapter ten of Digital Sheriff (Name can still change if anyone's got anything better). I'm also taking a few OCs, but reserve the right to refuse if I can't think of a way to use them. And they won't appear for a while anyway because of the stocked chapters I've got setting up.**

**Disclaimer: I, Lord Genesis Shadow, do hereby state that I do not own the rights to Digimon. Thank you, and good night/day/whenever-it-is-for-you-when-you-read-this-story.  
>…<strong>

"So, do you think you're ready to go in?" Arthur asked. I nodded as he pulled on his hoodie. "Good, because Annabelle keeps asking if you're alright. I keep saying 'you know Mao, he wouldn't tell anyone but my mom if he wasn't feeling good'." I laughed quietly as he pulled his cap on. "I'll say this, you've got better luck with girls than I ever will. I mean, you have not one, not two, but _three_ female humans worried about you." I counted on my right hand.

"Annabelle, Mara, and Kelly." I said. I got up from the floor as he got his keys.

"Yeah." He said. "And don't forget Daisy. She's worried too. How often does someone have an artery opened by the equivalent of a bullet and not die from it?"

"Depends on how close a surgeon is when it happens." I said. He opened the door and I followed him outside. "So, back to base."

"Yeah, and I heard from Percy that we're getting an assignment to go to a school." He said. "It's their career day, and the chief thinks we're the best choice this time around. I think it's a Junior High. Percy's going to talk to the others with Scott while Ann and Daisy do a speech on how Digivices are used in a battle situation. Me and you, we're there to test any hopefuls. If anyone has a Digimon, we can offer practice battles in the courtyard. No Baffle, no Red Tips, and be careful with your fire." He looked at me and I nodded.

"Got it." I said, making the OK gesture.

"We'll head to base, talk to Percy, load up the stuff we'll need, and, go to the school." He said. "Honestly, I just hope we don't make fools of ourselves." I laughed as he unlocked the door, and I jumped up, but he pointed at the seat.

"Fine…" I said. I grumbled as I got into the booster seat. "You know that if I ever manage to naturally Digivolve, I'm making good on my threat to destroy this thing." He laughed as he closed the door and started the engine. He got ready and started driving while I looked ahead. "Any chance we can stop somewhere and get breakfast first?" He laughed.

"Mom packed us lunch." He said. "Think you can ignore it for a few hours?" I thought about it.

"I can." I said. He turned a corner as I crossed my arms. "Why do I have to sit in this seat here, and not in Mara's car? Not one police officer ever pulled her over because I wasn't in a car seat, no one from the DGA bugged us then, so why now?" He shrugged.

"Beats me." He said. "But rules are rules. I don't want to get called into the chief's office and get yelled at because you won't sit in that thing."

"You try it." I said. "My tail's pushed up my back, or smashed under my leg, or just otherwise uncomfortable." He smirked and I tried to lean back. "And it's not exactly made to let me lean back even a little."

"Well, we could cut a hole in the back…" He said. "I'm not sure how we could lean it back. Unless you have an idea."

"Hinges, cut it in half so it'll move a little." I said.

"No, I don't think that'd work." He said. He turned again. "Just, bear with it. I'm sure you'll Digivolve soon… Is there, like, a usual age where Digimon do that naturally?" I blinked.

"How would I know?" I asked seriously. "I lived alone my whole life. More or less, I just… I don't know."

"Well, when did you first Digivolve into a Rookie?" He asked. I thought for a few minutes.

"Let's see…" I said quietly. "I think, I was about eight days old, after I hatched, when I went from Fresh to In-Training… And, two months from there, to Rookie… And it's been, a little over sixteen years from there." I scratched my head. "No consistency with me so far."

"Well…" He said slowly. "What about… Well, can't be your diet. What about what you were doing?"

"No, that has little, if anything, to do with it." I said. "The only times it does have something to do with it is like, certain armored Digimon. With some, it just appears, but with others, being in an area with the metal makes Digivolving a lot easier and much more likely."

"If only we knew what your next form was, we could try to find a way to do that." He said. He slowed to a stop in the parking lot and turned the engine off as I undid my seatbelt. "Hey, before we head in, don't try to prank everyone by acting tired or weak. I'm sure Annabelle would _not_ stop yelling at you for the rest of the week." We both laughed as I opened the door and jumped onto the step and then the curb before closing it. He got out and looked at the door. "Oh, and I'm sure Daisy's going to hug you again." I sighed.

"Well, thanks for warning me…" I said. "Okay, I'll need a chair, and a six foot stick." He laughed and walked past me while I moved my tail a little.  
>…<p>

I let out a quiet breath while Arthur flipped through the magazine. We had two hours until they would be ready. Daisy was standing in the sun, just enjoying the light. Or possibly photosynthesizing. Annabelle and Percy were talking while Scott rested on Percy's shoulder. I'd long since lost the topic, just a step away from sleeping.

"Hey, Mao, check this out." Arthur said. I opened my eyes. I was on my stomach on cold stone, my arms at my sides and my tail resting between my legs. As I looked at the picture, I blinked.

"I was pretty close to sleep there…" I said. "Blurry…" He moved it closer and my eyes widened as I whistled. "Nice. I like it. Nice body there."

"Who's got a nice body?" Daisy asked. The others looked over as Arthur turned the magazine, and I closed my eyes. "A gun?" I moved my arm over the page and Arthur guided my finger.

"Note, the slide." I said. "Here, are shallow vertical grooves to let you, grab it more effectively." He moved my finger to the right a little. "The hammer, has similar grooves on the top, to help you pull it back if you feel like it." He moved my finger to the left. "And the end of the barrel, has this compensator, to reduce recoil."

"How do you know where he's pointing your finger?" Annabelle asked.

"I know guns." I said tiredly. "_Gun_Impmon, remember?" They all laughed as he let go of my hand and I moved it back to my side.

"Eyes closed, magazine facing away, and you trust Arthur?" Daisy asked. "Maybe he got the hammer and barrel backward."

"I know which way the magazine is facing." I said. "So I know which way the gun is facing…" I yawned quietly. "And besides that, one look is all I need for that baby. Chromed for the shoot, polished walnut grip, skeletal trigger and hammer… Forty five caliber, replica of a Springfield armory, model nineteen eleven. Want the serial number?" They laughed as I sighed. "Then good day. I'm going to nap."

"Well, we've got a little time…" Arthur said. "We could get lunch."

"Enjoy." I said. I heard him get up, along with the others.

"I'll bring yours by before we're on." He said. I raised and waved my tail once before letting it drop. They walked away and I felt like I could really sleep as the sun began warming me.

'An hour's nap sounds good…' I thought groggily. 'No more staying up late watching… Comedians.' I smiled a little, remembering one. 'Worth it, though.' A few minutes later, I was just about asleep when I heard someone nearby.

"Get him!" A young voice said. I opened my eyes and heard a whoosh, like a stick, and I rolled quickly. A loud cracking sound broke the air and I saw, a masked face, and a bamboo sword on the brick. I rose quickly.

"What the h…" I started. It was a Digimon, that much was certain, because the brick had cracks, and the bamboo sword was okay. "Now hold on a cotton-pickin'…" The Digimon jumped up and swung, and I saw a kid swinging his hands just like the Digimon was. I dodged and moved back before jumping on its head and landed on the ground, shaking my head. "Just…" I ducked under another swing.

"Okay Harry, take him out!" The kid yelled. I looked briefly. It was actually a girl. I was rewarded with a near hit to my head, just barely going over the tips of my ears. I looked back and dodged from one side to another before drawing Baffle and stepped in, putting the barrel at Harry's chin, stopping him. "Hey!"

"What's going on?!" Arthur called.

"Mao!" Annabelle and Daisy called together.

"Don't let him hurt my friend!" The girl yelled.

"Call your partner off." Percy said quickly. The Digimon and I stared into each other's eyes for a moment as the others rushed over.

"Harry, s-stop." The girl said defeatedly. He lowered his weapon and I stepped back, holstering Baffle. "Y-you know this, Virus?" I groaned and turned, pointing at her.

"I may be a Virus, but I'm no more dangerous than that Patamon right now." I said. I looked over my shoulder. "No offense, Scott." He moved his wings as I looked back at the girl. She wore a red baseball cap, turned backward, rectangular black glasses, a red shirt with black sleeves, and a Jolly Roger logo. She had black boxing tape on her left hand, and red boxing tape on her right, red cargo pants, with zippers on the leggings, but the leggings zipped on were black. The weirdest part was that she wore a black running shoe with red laces on her right foot and a red running shoe with black laces on her left. She was a little pale, with black hair with red streaks. "I'm just glad I unloaded my gun before I got to the school, because I nearly pulled the trigger." She lowered her head as Arthur walked over to me, and Annabelle walked over to her.

"What are you doing out of class…" She started. "What are you doing here? This is the Jr. High school."

"I, got a year ahead." She said. "Advanced placement…"

"And, you're out of class, because…" I said, gesturing. To my surprise, the Digimon, a Kotemon, mirrored me with the same hand.

"I got done with work early, heard there was a practice battler here…" She said. "I wanted to see if I could get a match before anyone else was out here…" I looked at Harry, and, again to my surprise, he was looking at me, and we looked at her at the same time.

"You, wanted to challenge me?" Arthur asked. "Don't get me wrong, I'm okay with that… And it looks like you got your wish anyway."

"Wait, you're the practice guy?" She asked quickly. I smirked. "And, he's your partner? He's got a _gun_! And he's an _Impmon_! They're not dangerous!" I crossed my arms, narrowly avoiding getting hit by the bamboo sword.

"I'm only not dangerous when I'm not supposed to do my job." I said. Arthur laughed and put his hand on my head.

"Mao, is a _Gun_Impmon." He said. "He's, different. A _lot_ stronger. Have you seen the news lately?" She blinked and looked at the others as Percy laughed.

"What's that got to do with anything?" She asked.

"Mao has defeated many Champion level Digimon." Percy said. "Tyrannomon, Greymon, Monochromon, if he gets the drop on them, there are few that can stand against him." Daisy walked over and put her hand on my shoulder.

"He even beat a Myotismon." She said. I knew Scott was going to say something, so cleared my throat.

"To be honest, Scott did most of the work as an Angemon." I said. The girl crossed her arms.

"You couldn't beat Harry without that gun." She said. I put my hands behind my head.

"I think I could." I said. "He never hit me."

"Prove it." She said.

"Um, we don't even know who you are." Arthur said. "We kind of have to wait. I'm not about to get yelled at by my boss just because of some hotheaded kid and a Kotemon wanting a private match before the others… That's not to say I wouldn't mind a private match after school, if you don't want a crowd."

"You're on!" She said. "And the name's Riley Soren!" Harry walked over to her and struck the same forward leaning pose she had. "And this is Harrigan, my best friend." Arthur laughed as I smiled.

"Should be a fun fight." He said. "Just make sure it's worth the wait." She smirked while the others laughed. "And watch the stick."

"Shinai." She said. "It's called a shinai."  
>…<p>

I held my arm across my chest while Harrigan held his shinai in front of him. I switched arms as Riley groaned.

"Are you ready or what?" She asked.

"Anytime, squirt." I said.

"Hey, you're shorter than me!" She said. The others laughed.

"Yeah, but I'm seventeen." I said. "You're twelve."

"Okay Harry, Hothead him!" She called. Harrigan ran at me, his Shinai bursting into flame, and I lazily stepped aside as he swung down hard. He hit the ground and looked at me.

"Fire Kick." I said smugly. I spun around in a roundhouse, and he blocked it with the flaming sword, held at an awkward angle, yet he had managed to hold it with both hands, arms crossed with his right hand up, his left on the end of the blade. "Hey, that's pretty good. I'll have to remember that one." I pointed my finger at him as he started pushing against me, making me hop back. "Big-Badda-Boom Shot." The larger than normal fireball hit him and threw him back a good twenty feet. He skidded and I stepped back.

"What the heck was that?" Riley said. "Try it again! Put a spin on it!" Harrigan charged me as I moved back a little.

"You know what you're doing Mao." Arthur said quietly through the headset. "Let's see what she's got." The whole day, a group of kids had shown their best, but it was hardly worth noting. A few Patamon, an Agumon, and two Gabumon, and not one original tactic… Or any tactic. Just a basic attack, rush toward me and claw. Riley had ideas, and Harrigan knew what he was doing.

"Matchhead!" Riley called. The tip of the Shinai lit, but suddenly the flame shot out and I narrowly avoided the flame.

"Whoa, nice one!" Arthur called. I jumped back and rolled before pointing both fingers at him. As expected, he dodged to a side, and I smirked as I took off at him, jumping.

"Imp Fire Kick!" I called. His glowing eyes went brighter as my foot impacted his mask, throwing him back as I did a backflip, pointing my fingers at him. "Double Badda-Boom Shot!" I hit both shots, and to my surprise, he swung at me again. The flaming shinai connected and threw me aside, though I rolled. It was weakened in heat, but felt solid. I looked up as he stood.

"Great shot Harry!" Riley called.

"Hey, Arthur, he's not bad." I said quietly, so he'd hear, but no one else would. "I've got half a mind to ask if she'd join the DGA." He laughed as I got up and moved my hands out in front of me. "Okay Harrigan, let's see if you're fast enough for this."

"He's got more of those fireballs!" Riley said. I smirked.

"With me, you might say it's, fire and ice." I said. "Infernal Funnel!" Harrigan began rushing me but a circle of red formed in the ground and he skidded as it turned black in the center while chunks of ice flew up. He went to go around but I made them all fly around me. As he waited for a moment to strike, I made them fly toward him, but I jumped onto the portal, falling through it into a small sub-dimension. Few Impmon even knew about that part. I landed on a particularly large stone and looked up with a grin.

"Mao, where are you?" Arthur asked. I blinked.

"These things are, impressive." I said. He laughed. "I'm in the Infernal Funnel. Few know that you can drop inside it for a quick hiding place, and still see above you." I looked up and saw Harrigan looking around. "I just need one more portal, and then I'm done playing."

"Playing." Scott repeated. "Is that what you call it?"

"This is the best way to see what Harrigan and Riley can do." I said. "Don't forget, Kotemon don't have a wide variety of techniques, whereas, I have a growing library thanks to the Optimizer… And there's my chance." I created a portal in front of me and one on a wall behind Riley, while Harrigan's back was turned. "Infernal Funnel." I looked through the portal and jumped up as high as I could and angled down. "Imp Fire Kick!" I shot through the portal as he turned, and he barely got out of the way, though I smirked as I jumped higher as the portal grew. Arthur pulled Riley aside as the others gasped. The rock flew through and hit the ground in front of Harrigan, but it threw him as I spun and turned. "Fire Kick!" I kicked him in the back and he flew toward the rock, hitting it and falling to the ground as it began vanishing back to the sub-dimension. I set my foot down as he breathed quietly, and held his free hand up.

"What the heck was that?!" Riley called. "Cheap move!"

"You said no gun, and no gun was used." I said. "You never said I couldn't use the alternative purpose of one of my moves." She grumbled as Arthur patted her shoulder.

"Hey, you have to admit, that was a surprise." He said. "I didn't even know he could do that… But I think Mao was genuinely impressed. Usually he wouldn't do a backflip kick, nor did I know he could do _that_ either." She glared at me as I rubbed my shoulder.

"I daresay you are skilled enough to join the DGA as it is." Percy said. She looked up at him, mouth open. "I would not joke about this, young mademoiselle. You and Harrigan have talent. Scott and I were talking, and we could put in a word with the chief, if you wish to…"

"You're darn skippy we want to join!" She said quickly. Harrigan jumped to his feet and mirrored her perfectly as she leaned toward Percy, hands held slightly up with a bright look in their eyes. "We've been training for years! Harry and I have been together since I was four! I know we can do some good…" She and Harrigan stepped back, lowering their arms. "Mom keeps saying no, but… She said if someone would vouch for me, promise to keep me safe… She says I can join the agency, if, I can also, keep my grades up kinda high." Arthur patted her shoulder again.

"If anyone can keep you safe, Percival Canterbury is someone you can always count on." He said. "But leave the shooting to us, and of course, Mao." They looked up at Percy, Riley smiling a little. She then looked at me as I held my hand up to Arthur, who handed Baffle to me. I spun it twice before holstering it with a smirk.


	11. Talking with Friends, a Short Assignment

**A few weeks out, hopefully you all remember where you left off. If not, I hope you like this nonetheless. I'm still thinking of a better title, but I'll listen to suggestions through a PM. But other than that, this is just a slow chapter to introduce new characters and new information, and maybe shed a little light on Mao's past. And while I'm here, this chapter is brought to you by deathsonic, who asked when I was posting the next chapter. Thank you for reminding me I hadn't posted for a while. I'm sure some fans will appreciate you, and hopefully send you messages of thanks.**

**Disclaimer: I, Lord Genesis Shadow, do hereby state that I do not own the rights to Digimon, in any way, shape, or form. Thank you for your time, and please enjoy the chapter, short as it may feel.  
>…<strong>

I rolled out of the hammock and landed on the blanket, but something hit me over the head. As I grabbed the sore spot, I looked up to see a familiar object. A shinai.

"Hey Harrigan." I said tiredly. I saw a look in his eyes. "Woke me up a little faster." Scott laughed quietly from his bed as I grabbed my belt and stood up, putting it on and turning the alarm off. "I take it Riley spent the night?" He nodded. "Cool. Hopefully you both like it here." I rubbed my head as Scott jumped down and glided to the floor. "Where are the others?"

"Probably getting breakfast, or maybe showing Riley around." Scott said. I went to the door and opened it, and we all walked out and Daisy ran up to us.

"Guys, you should see this." She said. I rubbed my head again and stifled a yawn.

"Is something wrong?" Scott asked.

"No, but, it's awesome." She said. We followed her down the hall toward the kitchen, where we heard cheering. As we got in, I saw Percy watching, one arm in the air. When we got to the crowd, Scott jumped up and landed on his shoulder, and he was silent. I jumped up and climbed onto Percy's other shoulder and saw that Arthur was arm wrestling someone bigger than he was, and they were even. I laughed. "How awesome is that? He's got him dead even!"

"No, Arthur'll win." I said, looking at her. "He's got a trick up his sleeve."

"What's that?" Percy asked. I looked at him and pointed at Arthur.

"Arthur, finish him!" I said. Arthur smirked and began moving his challenger's arm, slowly at first.

"What's he doing?" Percy asked quietly. I leaned in.

"It's all about how you move your arm." I said. "Look how Arty's moving his. He's pulling it in, giving the other guy less leverage." Percy looked. "You can take someone twice your size with that… Not that _you'd_ need it. I don't know anyone bigger than you that isn't a Digimon." Arthur put the other guy's hand down and the crowd erupted in cheer, and I climbed up a little more.

"Ah, well done my friend!" Percy said happily. "Well done indeed! You beat him!" The man ran his fingers through his hair as Arthur smiled.

"Your dad was a Marine?" He asked. Arthur nodded. "I believe it. Good job." He held his hand out, and shook Arthur's. As Arthur stood, Percy took his hand and raised it.

"That's three for three, for squad sixteen!" He called.

"Yeah, but I bet your that Impmon isn't as tough as mine." The guy said.

"Hey, Mao can win, easy." Arthur said. I looked at him.

"I just woke up." I said.

"Chickenmon." A smug voice said. I looked to see another Impmon, arms crossed. "Just 'cause your different, ya think youse tough."

"Come on Mao, easy win." Arthur said.

"No using that new Digivice." The Tamer said.

"Won't need it." I said. I jumped down as the Impmon got up on the other side, and Daisy got near the table, climbing up.

"Okay, Mao, versus…" She started.

"Joey." The Impmon said.

"Joey." Daisy repeated, raising her arms. "Arms on the table." I put my arm down, and Joey did the same, our hands apart.

"You're goin' down, _Mao_." He said.

"Your hand is, I know that much." I said quietly.

"Okay, hands together." Daisy said. We complied, and Joey gripped fairly hard, trying to hurt my hand.

'If that's how you're going to play.' I thought.

"Ready Joey?" Daisy asked. He nodded. "Mao?"

"Ready." I said.

"Go!" She said, lowering her arms quickly. Joey instantly began pushing against my arm, but mine stayed still, if shaking from his effort. He let out a deep groan of effort, but I began pulling his arm a little toward me, making it harder, and I moved easily and put his hand on the table. He panted as he let go of my hand.

"You cheated!" He said loudly. "Your Tamer used that, thing!" Arthur held his hand out to his Tamer.

"If I did, it would show more data in Mao's right arm." He said. The man looked at it and ran his fingers through his hair again.

"I don't see anything out of the ordinary." He said. "Sorry Joey, he, he uh, won. Fair."

"Damn it!" The Impmon said under his breath.

"It's all in the technique." I said. "Not that hard to learn it." He jumped down and walked away.

"Sorry, Joey's a bit of a sore loser." The Tamer said. "Good job Mao."

"Just think, if I were awake, I'd have won faster." I said. The crowd laughed as Daisy raised my arm.

"Let's hear it again for Mao!" She called. The crowd cheered and I smirked as she let go of my hand, though I left it up for a second before lowering it.

"With this many cute girls around, I had to show off." I said. They all laughed again as Joey walked back over with some food. "So, what do we win?" Annabelle kissed Arthur and Percy's cheeks, and then mine. Arthur blushed deeply while I just smiled, and then Daisy kissed my other cheek.

"You were awesome, all of you." She said. Annabelle picked her up and held her out to kiss Arthur's cheek, and then Percy's.

"I definitely feel like a winner now." I said. Arthur picked me up and put me on his shoulders while Riley jumped up, one hand in the air, with Harrigan mirroring her.

"We rule!" She called. "I got to be in the best squad!" The crowd slowly parted, likely to get breakfast, but they all seemed in better spirits than usual.

"The chief put you with us?" I asked. They nodded. "Sorry then." She laughed.

"Hey, you beat Harry, and there's an _Angemon_ capable Patamon here." She said. Scott smiled a little as Percy turned. "And they told me about what you did." She smirked. "Monochromon, Tyrannomon, Devimon, and a freaking _Myotismon_!" I rubbed the back of my head and pointed at Scott.

"Scott did the harder work on that." I said. "Beat him as a Devimon, weakened him as a Myotismon… I shot him a few times, Scott fired the round that put him on the ground…"

"Yeah, but you finished him off!" She said. She and Harrigan held their arms out. "Dude, you killed a Myotismon! You're a Rookie that kills Champions, and you finished off an Ultimate!" They lowered their arms as she grinned, the others laughing. "You rule!" Harrigan nodded.

"It's because he overcharges his attacks." Scott said. She looked at him and then me.

"Really?" She asked. I nodded.

"Yeah." I said. "It's as much a weakness as a strength. I can only use half as many attacks as I normally should be able to. I only go normal power on other Rookies, if I know it'll drop 'em outright." Arthur shifted.

"Doesn't mean you're not awesome." He said. Riley and Harrigan nodded, raising their right hands.

"Heck yeah!" She said. We laughed.

"Come on, we should get Harry to the lab, so you can get your things." Arthur said. "They'll just need a quick scan to check things out." They all started walking toward the lab, but I grabbed a bag of food on the way. "Mao…"

"I just woke up, arm wrestled, and got kissed by a cute human girl and a cute Palmon." I said. Annabelle and Daisy giggled. "I've earned…" I looked into the bag. "A sausage, egg, and cheese breakfast sandwich, and hash browns." I pulled out the hash brown and took a bite of it over the bag.

"One crumb gets in my hair and I'll put ketchup on your head." He said. I moved my foot and he laughed.  
>…<p>

"Hey, check this out." Annabelle said. I looked up from the magazine I was reading as she held a card out to Arthur.

"Is that…" Percy asked. She nodded.

"Yeah, I just found it in my purse." She said. "How cool is that?" Daisy raised her hands and Annabelle gave her the card as she crouched. "That's the same kind of card Percy uses to Digivolve Scott."

"I have one of those." Riley said. I looked over as she held out the card, while Harrigan held out a credit card, most likely to mimic her. Percy looked at the card in Riley's hand.

"Well, the only one without a card, or a noticeable way…" He started slowly.

"Is Mao." Arthur said. He looked at the Optimizer and touched the screen a few times. "Looks like whatever it was that changed with Mao is finished, but, there's no telling just what it was yet. I'll look for it…" He looked at me. "Hey, you know what we forgot to do?"

"What?" I asked.

"Data allocation." He said. He walked over and they looked. "After a big fight that gets a lot of data, Mao and I put it in, wherever he feels it fits."

"What do you mean?" Riley asked. She walked over, along with the others, while Arthur handed me the stylus.

"This Digivice is different, as we said." He explained. "Mao absorbs data on his own, to grow stronger, and heal. But he doesn't get a lot. Some goes to the Digital World, some of it goes to him, and the rest, comes to me, to the Digi-Optimizer." She got up next to me as he held the screen out to me. "Look at that. Six gigabytes. Not bad." I thought for a moment and put three gigs in each leg. "This is Mao's standard data, with all of the excess he's collected at all times. Then we add the data I acquire, so he can gain the full benefits, but that data is limited in how much he can have in various areas. He put it in his legs, so he can run faster and kick harder, but there's data in his arms, his head, and his body. This…" He pointed to the image of me, at my chin and jaw. "Is his jaw, where most of the head data goes. It lets him bite harder. In his eyes, it makes his vision sharper. His ears, his hearing improves." He pointed at my chest. "And his body, it's a general improvement of his durability, as well as general health. Strong lungs, a strong stomach, obviously…" The others laughed as he touched my chest, over my heart. "And a strong heart. This one time, he got hit by a lightning bolt in the middle of a battle, I thought he was a goner, and his enemy turned on me. I ran for, about five minutes, and all of a sudden I hear this voice yell 'Dark Round', but I think it's my imagination for all of a second. Then, a sound that thunder can't get close to. A bullet hits the thing in the head, and… Mao's standing off to the side." Riley looked at me as he looked at the screen. "The doctor we took him to said that Mao should have died the instant that lightning bolt hit him. I looked at the Optimizer, turned out it had given a warning, that his heart had _nearly_ stopped. The doctor asked what I was doing, I told him what this was, what it did, and he suggested that the data in his heart made it just strong enough to take the hit. Since then, I always keep some extra data there, to save his life in case he gets another jolt from something."

"Did it hurt?" Daisy asked.

"Oh yeah…" I said, rubbing the top of my head. "Went right for the shiniest spot up here. Whenever it starts raining, I try not to jump if at all possible." They laughed quietly. "Lucky me, I healed completely. Turns out it was lucky I got jolted though. I'd used all six Dark Rounds, had just enough power left to create a single bullet. Figured I'd try to take a Champion down with a normal bullet, contact to the head. Then the lightning hit me." I patted Baffle. "Charged me just enough to fire that last shot. Lucky it didn't set off the bullet, or that would messed me up anyway."

"I'll say this again." Riley said. "_You're awesome!_" The others laughed.

"Yeah, now if only we could get Mao to go Champion, he'd be even more awesome." Arthur said. He rubbed my head. "Until then, he's strong enough to beat Champions, and with all of you, it'll be a lot easier."

"It'll happen someday." Percy said. "I bet he'll be something very powerful, oui?"

"I hope so." Arthur said. "But no matter what…" He held up the Optimizer and I put the stylus away in it. "He can _be_ powerful. If all he has is melee, he can get strong enough to beat up an Ultimate."

"Hey, what's that right there?" Riley asked. She touched a spot, and we looked. She pressed the scan button and the light shined on Harrigan, and it dinged after a second. "Wh-what did you do to Harry?"

"Scanned him." Arthur said. "The Optimizer scans Digimon, analyzes them, and lets Mao learn some of their attacks. It looks like Mao just gained… The power to create a shinai. Neat."

"Mao, do it." Riley said. Harrigan nodded quickly.

"It takes energy, you know." I said.

"Come on, you can keep it with you." Arthur said. "You can clock people with it." I thought for a moment as images filled my head. I held out my left hand and focused, and data formed a shinai, but when it appeared, it was, partly rotted. "Whoa."

"It's rotted." Riley said. "Is that because of you?"

"Probably." I said. I swung down at the ground, hard, and it made a warped cracking sound, but it didn't break at all. "But it's just as strong as Harrigan's." He walked up and tapped his mask. "You sure?" He nodded. I swung down again and the shinai bounced off with a loud crack. He then offered his own, and Riley giggled.

"Wow, he really trusts you." She said.

"Probably from our sparring match." Arthur said. Harrigan nodded as I set my Shinai down and took his, and he moved his head a little. I swung down and it made a similar sound, but lighter. "Sounds different." I gave it back and Riley pointed at mine at the same time as Harrigan.

"His is tougher." She said. "The rot doesn't make it any weaker. If anything, the rotted stuff made it a little stronger." Arthur nodded as I looked it over.

"Looks like Harrigan's is genuine bamboo, while mine is…" I started. "Looks like maple slats tied together… It's like a, deconstructed, reconstructed baseball bat." Riley giggled. "That means, it's not a true shinai, but, a mimic." Harrigan nodded. "You know, I like naming my weapons. I will call this… Bamboozle."

"Bamboozle." Arthur repeated. The Optimizer beeped twice and he looked at it. "Hey, look at that. Create Bamboozle… Looking down a little, I see 'Create Baffle'. You can make another?" I nodded.

"Yeah, if Baffle gets damaged bad enough, it disappears like a Digimon would." I said. "Happened once when I lost it down a chasm. It was so far down I just created a new one. That made the original reformat to this one, or so I would imagine."

"So, that's basically, Baffle two point oh." Arthur said. I shrugged as I tapped my shoulder with Bamboozle.

"Another thing about that name, it has bamboo in it." Daisy said. Harrigan jumped and looked at her, nodding quickly.

"I didn't think of that." I said thoughtfully. "Good catch, Daisy." They all laughed.

"Hey, got a hot one for you." A lab tech said. "Percival?" Percy looked and took a note.

"What's this?" He asked.

"Well, they're sending you on a fairly simple mission." The tech said. "There are a few departments, and the chief wants all field agents to be on a special rotation. Today you started on the second part." He pointed at the note. "Looks like you're going to find a kid that has a Digimon and is using it to bully his peers. Sad as it is, you're going to have to separate the child from his partner and friend."

"What kind of Digimon is it?" Riley asked. Percy read the note for a moment.

"Keramon, but he uses a D three, and it's Champion capable." He said. "Best to separate them and remove the Digivice. But he also has a brother that has a Garurumon and a sister with a Greymon. The two are known to be able to reach the Ultimate level, so we have to be very careful. We're to go in, tell the parents, and make sure the Keramon is willing to go peacefully back to the Digital World until the boy is ready. If he fights back, subdue it. If we can't do that, it's, obvious what we have to do."

"How is it he has a Keramon in the first place?" Annabelle asked. "I thought Keramon were the result of a virus infecting a Digi-Egg that was on the internet."

"The original was." I said. "But after it multiplied, a few copies in the Digital World were reverted to Digi-Eggs, and were purified of _that_ virus, but are still Virus Digimon." They all looked at me. "What?"

"How did you know that?" She asked.

"You hear things in the Dark Area, whether you mean to or not." I said. "Newspapers caught in the wind, intermittent power turning on a TV in an abandoned house, or the odd traveler that doesn't see me going after a roast in a tree and was talking to a companion on the way to a nearby castle to speak to the local lord." They laughed and I pointed to the note. "If the boy has a Keramon, then it's because he and the Keramon are similar in some way."

"True, Digimon are attracted to humans of similar dispositions…" Percy said. "It's all about the personality of the Digimon and the person he finds. Always seems to be that way. A Digimon leaves the Digital World to find a friend, they nearly always find their way to the exact human that is a perfect match for them, oui?"

"Oui." Riley said. She giggled. "I like that word… What does it mean?" Percy laughed.

"It means 'yes'." He said. "Come on, let's go. Ah, here is another word I think you will like, and it means 'let's go', more or less." He pointed toward the entrance. "Allons-y!"

"Allons-y!" She called, pointing with Harrigan.  
>…<p>

"So, wait, my brother is bullying other kids?" The teen asked. Arthur nodded.

"So it seems." He said. "I have the security footage, here." He held out the smart phone and played a scene of the boy using his Keramon to hold another boy up by his ankles to make his money fall out. I looked at the Garurumon as he stood up to watch.

"What do you think, big guy?" The teen asked. "Did they do anything to this?" The Garurumon shook his head.

"No." He said. "That's the real deal."

"You know how to spot fake footage?" Arthur asked. I tapped his elbow.

"I've been meaning to tell you about something." I said. "Virus Digimon can hack into anything with a computer chip in the real world." He looked at me and then at Garurumon.

"It's true." He said. "Some better than others. I don't bother. Not too good at it. But I'm good at seeing it. Harvey has a habit of messing with Ben's videos. I can put them right, but I always see where Harvey messes around." He looked at me. "How good are you?" I shrugged.

"Never bother with it." I said. "Obvious suspect, right?" He laughed quietly.

"Well, if Harvey gives any trouble, we'll back you up." Ben said. There was a sound outside, like some kind of manic giggling.

"Arthur, the Keramon's attacking us!" Annabelle said quickly. "Riley and I can't get to our cards, and the brother…" The line went dead as Arthur got up, dropping the phone.

"Harvey." Ben said. We ran outside, Garurumon quickly picking me up. "Garu, get him around the side while I take care of Gary." As we got to the side yard, the boy was in the tree with a slingshot, and Ben ducked under a shot.

"Get 'em!" He called.

"Arthur, scan Harvey!" Percy called. "Find a weakness! He's in the air!" I looked up and pulled to the right, making Garurumon jump to avoid the 'Bug Blaster', Harvey laughing madly while he fired them. I saw Daisy hiding in a bush while Scott flew up, only to take a shot to the chest. He fell down and hit the ground fairly hard. Arthur scanned it and I heard a few beeps.

"Mao, just drop him!" Arthur called. "He's not going to go peacefully!" I drew Baffle. "New move! Bug Blaster!" Harvey panted heavily, giggling. He was visibly tired, but Keramon were known for having prodigious amounts of stamina. He could probably fire upward of fifty or sixty times. Judging by the holes, he'd fired a baker's dozen at best, maybe one or two more if Scott's prone state was anything to go by.

"How high can you jump?" I asked.

"How close do you need to get?" He asked.

"Just don't get hit." I said. I pulled the hammer back and took aim as he jumped high. Keramon spun as we got higher, and his mouth was already glowing, and wide open. "Tell me you can avoid this!"

"Bug Blaster!" Keramon giggled madly. Two shots were fired and the first missed, but the second caught Garurumon. I managed to jump, just in time for a shot to hit me. I hit the ground and heard a groan of pain.

"Mao!" Arthur called. I felt that I'd dropped Baffle as I looked up, and Keramon slowly floated down as the Greymon rushed forward, only to receive a shot to the face as the boy raised his Digivice. I had one shot. I opened my mouth, focusing on the new move.

'I hope to the Sovereigns this hits where I want it to.' I thought. "Bug Blaster!" I laughed madly as I spat the golden light toward the tree. It shook, causing the boy to drop his Digivice.

"Harvey!" He cried. He held onto the branch as I looked up, firing another just in time to hit Harvey. As I charged another, Greymon grabbed him by the head with both hands, one on top and the other on the bottom.

"No more of that from you, skinny!" She said. I slowly got up, grabbing Baffle as Keramon's tentacles grabbed her hands and began shocking her, making her wince a few times. "Cute, but I can crush your head right now if you don't…" A larger jolt made her let go, and as he looked at me I raised Baffle.

"Bug Blaster!" I said under my breath. I felt the urge to laugh again, but I managed to control myself as I pulled the trigger. A bright golden light shot out, going through Harvey's head, and he was quickly deleted. Greymon looked at me as I lowered the revolver and put a hand to my stomach, where I'd been hit, but I looked up at her.


	12. Time Off Work, Training With New Friends

**I'd do a rotation, but it'd put my plans in a spin. So a few weeks for one story, a few weeks for another, whatever one feels the right one to post. But, here's chapter twelve, and after this, I've got work to do and a nap to take. *Peewee, the highly epic miniature Demon Kiwi, sits on my head and sets his head down, sighing quietly before snoring through his nostrils* Right then.**

**Disclaimer: I, Lord Genesis Shadow, do hereby state that I do not own the rights to Digimon. If I did, it'd be of lesser quality than what they currently have… I think. I haven't seen it, and don't have an opinion.  
>…<strong>

"Hey, Mao, wake up." Riley said. "_Wake_ _up_! Wake _up_! _Wake_ up! Wake-up-wake-up-wake-up!" She continued for a minute so I reached out and put my hand on her head, and she made a clicking sound. I looked at her as I lowered my arm.

"We have the next two weeks off." I said tiredly. She was silent, so I put my hand on her head again.

"Percy says we're gonna train." She said. "Arthur told me to wake you up." I looked down at my clock and picked it up and looking at the time.

"Six thirty…" I said tiredly. "He turned off my alarm."

"You got to bed late." She said.

"And you came over." I said. She nodded as I looked at her, and I saw Harry nodding with her. I yawned as she held up my belt, so I took it as I sat up carefully. She moved back and I dropped to the floor and put my belt on. "Percy and, the others?" I yawned again as they shook their heads.

"They're on their way." She said. "Mrs. Rowe said she's offering the house as a base, if we all behave." She walked out of the room fairly quickly with her arms held out like wings, and Harrigan followed like a shadow. I shook my head and yawned before walking out of the room. By the time I got to the stairs I was still almost fully asleep, but at the bottom I smelled sausage. I walked over to the door and saw Riley eating while Harrigan was sitting in the front room. I saw a pair of trays on stands, so I looked at Mara.

"Good morning." She said. "I'm almost done with the hash browns." I walked in and Arthur lowered a cup, which I took and began drinking. Fresh squeezed orange juice. When I finished it, Mara held out a plate. "Here you go, and…" She handed me another. "One for Harrigan."

"Thanks Mara." I said gratefully. I walked out with the plates as Harrigan put a piece of sausage between the spaces of the mask, and the fork came out clean. I put the hash browns on his tray and mine before climbing up. "Good?" He nodded quickly and I heard him swallow. "You won't find better." He was silent, as always, but after a moment he nodded again. I looked at his plate as he put the last of the sausage in his mask, and he quickly went about cutting up the hash browns. I took a bite of mine and sighed.

"Amazing." He said quietly. It was just barely audible.

"She could be on that Iron Chef show." I said. "Probably hold her own against Masaharu Morimoto." He looked at me, but nodded.

"Heard me?" He asked, just as quietly as before. It was below a whisper, like he was barely breathing when he spoke. I tapped my ear.

"Optimizer." I said. "Great ears." He nodded and looked at his now empty plate. I looked at mine for a moment and smelled more sausages. He looked over as I looked at him, so I put some of my sausages on his plate, and he seemed surprised when he looked at me. "She makes a lot. The next batch won't be done for a few minutes." I put my plate down.

"Thanks." He said. He quickly began cutting them to fit and I ate mine pretty much whole. I loved sausage links, but sausage in general was one of my favorite breakfasts, but a thought hit me as I quickly swallowed.

"Uh, word of warning, they might be, fireball hot." I said. He looked at me and sniffed a piece, but ate it. After a moment he ate another. "And here I thought I was the only non-dragon fire eating Digimon." He continued eating until a knock at the door preceded it opening. I looked over as Daisy walked in and looked over. "Hey. Just in time for breakfast." She laughed as she walked over, and Scott flew in past Annabelle while Percy walked in after him.

"It smells wonderful." He said.

"Your plates are ready and warm." Mara said. "Scott, yours is in the front room, though you might want to Digivolve first." Scott landed and Percy laughed, pulling out the card. "Good thing we have Digivolve grade surge protectors." He swiped the card as Daisy walked over and looked up to the third spot on the couch, beside me, and I held my hand out. I helped her up as Harrigan picked up a glass with a straw, carefully, and the straw disappeared in the mask.

"Thanks." She said. I nodded as a bright light filled the room, followed by the usual call out from Digivolution. When it faded, Kelly cheered.

"Yay!" She called. "Awesome!" Scott laughed and set his staff against the wall by the coat rack, and he looked over at a chair before walking over, but he looked at me.

"I didn't even know you were all coming over." I said. "No time to convince Mara to give you napalm." He laughed quietly as he sat down and moved his tray. Mara walked in.

"Who's ready for seconds?" She asked. Harrigan raised his hand quickly, and I saw Riley sitting up higher.

"I think Riley must have skipped dinner last night." I said. Mara laughed after putting sausages on Harrigan's plate, and mine.

"I have enough for one last time, for your friends." She said kindly. "Enough for Daisy and Scott, and those without superpowers or, new levels of 'awesome' to aspire to." I held up my fork.

"This cooking could stop a raging Black Wargreymon." I said. "That's awesome beyond all measure." She laughed as Harrigan nodded quickly. She walked back into the kitchen and gave Riley more sausages as Scott made a sound.

"If she were to try, I'd wager she would prove you right." He said. Daisy ate a sausage and nodded.

"It'd stop any bad Digimon and turn 'em good." She said. I ate more of my sausages while Harrigan quickly ate his. "Hey, slow down, you're gonna make yourself sick." He slowed down a little while Scott looked up.

"So, Mao, about that new, technique." He said. I looked over.

"I have a few." I said.

"Bug Blaster." He said.

"I call it Laughing Shot." I said.

"Yes, that's the, issue." He said. "When you used it, you, laughed. Thus the name?" I sighed.

"You heard that Keramon laughing." I said. "I just used a copy with double power. What does that tell you?"

"Be that as it may, what possessed you to laugh like a madmon?" He asked. Daisy looked at me, as did Harrigan. I just shrugged.

"I copy an attack, it makes me act like the user, kind of." I said. "Dark Bubble, Imp Breath… Boom Bubble and Pepper Breath. I use your Rookie attack or that one, and it makes me blow up like a balloon or spit fire like a dragon." He nodded slowly. "Bug Blaster makes me laugh. You know the other name for it? Crazy Giggle. The code behind it, makes me laugh like I just heard a joke I know I shouldn't be laughing at."

"So, it's the attack?" He asked. I nodded. "You used it with your revolver, though… How, did you do that?"

"Redirect the code as energy from my mouth to my hand, filter it into Baffle, and into a bullet." I said. "I do the same with my Badda-Boom Shot. I can either fire it from my finger, or from Baffle." He nodded and looked at his staff while Harrigan looked over as well.

"You, are definitely creative with your attacks." Daisy said. "Hey, Scott, could you do that with your Hand of Fate? Like, put it in your staff and just, clobber a guy with it?"

"Possibly…" He said. "I'll try later. For now, I assume Riley mentioned that we're training, Mao?" I nodded.

"After she did her impression of an alarm clock." I said. "Chanting 'wake up' over and over… It works though." Daisy laughed. "Where are we going for it? And are we still on call?"

"No, we're not on call." He said. "Think of it this way. Every few weeks we go to two weeks off." I nodded and ate my hash browns. "If we're close by, we can go and handle it, but they'd prefer we only do so if we're able to respond faster than other agents." I nodded again. "So, for now, we're going to go to a little training place near the mountains." We all looked at him. "It's mostly a way to train our bodies, for a week. We'll have to come to an agreement whether or not to stay up there or just go to and from there each morning, or some stay and the rest go, that sort of thing."

"I wouldn't mind staying." Daisy said. "Er, depending on, what it's like up there."

"Speaking of, what's it like?" I asked.

"It's actually a martial arts temple." He said. "I will try to remain in my Champion form as much as possible, Harrigan as well, and if you feel like it, Daisy, so should you… As for you, Mao…"

"I think I could manage…" I said. "Just, one week though?"

"Well, perhaps longer, if they'll allow us." He said. "Um, yes, Harrigan?" I looked to see him pointing at his shinai. "Yes, I'm sure they'll allow that… They might even train you to use it a little more, proficiently…" I looked at the kitchen before finishing my breakfast.

"Mao?" Arthur called. "You get all of that?"

"Training at a temple." I said. "Yeah. Sounds like a blast."

"Yeah, one week or two?" He asked. The others laughed.  
>…<p>

I adjusted the uniform as the man looked at me. He laughed quietly after a moment. I didn't blame him. A dark purple gi with a plum belt holding it closed, on a purple skinned digital imp who wore red fingerless gloves and a red neckerchief with a blank tin star… I'd have to get a picture later.

"Normally, we save these for children, like your friend Riley." He said. "Luckily we had one in this color for you." It was comfortable, and simple. As luck would have it, it was temple for kung fu. It was actually pretty awesome. At least, according to Daisy, Harrigan, and Riley.

"Well, I bet you had a harder time with Harrigan." I said. "Big lizard-man with axe bracers, now wearing a cool orange gi? Did he lose the sleeves yet?" He laughed again and gestured, and I followed him out.

"As per your friend Percival's explanation, you will train with some of the other Tamers here." He said. "As odd as it may seem, coincidental some might say, Tamers often come here to train, and cleanse their spirits. To that end, it is also a good way to bond with your Tamer, and all of your friends."

"And it doesn't hurt to learn how to defend ourselves." I said. "Especially Arthur. His fighting style is…" He looked back and I made a couple of fists, throwing a few punches. "The same fighting style everyone starts out with." He nodded and smiled a little. "I guess I'll be training with the Rookies?"

"Actually, all who are just starting will be together in the beginner's class." He said. "It is only fair." I nodded as we walked out, and I saw Harrigan talking to Scott, and the man laughed. "As you thought, he has removed the sleeves… Fortunately, we are happy to give our uniforms to students. If he needs another, we will give him as many as he needs. Hopefully, it will not be many."

"I hear th-that…" I said. I saw a Togemon wearing the pants, but not the gi. It had to be Daisy. "Wow."

"Um, yes, that was, a surprise…" He said. "Even she did not think that the pants would fit… Add that she does not remove the gloves… She may be limited in what she can learn, but she still wishes to try. I wonder if she _can_ remove the gloves." I thought for a moment and she looked over, gesturing. "I hope you enjoy your time here."

"What's not to enjoy?" I asked. I gestured to the uniform. "This is the most comfortable clothing I've ever worn, I'm learning to better protect my friends, and most of all, there's a very quiet, serene place, to gather my thoughts. Not only will I enjoy my time here, I think that whenever we have time off, we'll be back to continue learning." He laughed as he walked away, and I walked over to the group.

"Looking sharp." Riley said.

"It looks good on you." Percy said. "Good thing it's yours, oui?" I moved my tail a little and nodded.

"Yeah…" I said. "And it's comfortable…" I looked up at him and he laughed. "I'm more surprised they had one in your size." He laughed as Daisy looked at me.

"Cool gi." She said. I smiled.

"Cool pants." I said. She laughed quietly, or at least quietly for a fourteen foot tall cactus. After a few moments, the instructors called everyone to the training area and we took our spaces among the other Digimon, and Daisy was to my left, while Scott was to my right. We watched the instructor and he took a pose, so we all followed. As we followed him, I saw that the variety of Digimon was, low. Species-wise, there was a good number, but as far as type went, there were more Vaccine than anything, a dozen Data types, but what made me curious was that there were only three Viruses, including me. 'Most of our calls have been for Viruses… There are a lot coming through, but not a lot doing so to find any humans. I wonder…' I put the thought aside and moved my feet close to the teacher's rhythm. After a few minutes, I smiled. It was actually relaxing.

"This is quite, soothing." Scott said quietly. "We could practice like this later after work."

"It's a great way to wind down after a long day." I said. "I'll go for it." After twenty minutes, we had gone through several different motions, nothing that could be dangerous if sped up, but still pretty cool looking. We were done, so we bowed to the teachers. As we went to our little groups, I sat down by a garden and Daisy sat near it as well. "That was fun."

"Yeah." She said.

"I think staying here for the week, if they'll let us, is a good idea." I said.

"Yeah." She said after a moment. I smiled a little. "Good for blocking." I nodded. "Doubt we'll learn how to fight, for a few months. Good for relaxing and blocking."

"Yeah." I said. She laughed, but it was as deep voiced as expected, and kind of slow, but I laughed with her. After a few minutes, Scott walked over with a Gatomon. "Hey."

"Mao, Daisy, this is Lena." He said. "She is here with her Tamer, who has apparently taken a shine to our friend Arthur." I blinked and looked over to see him talking with a girl in a pink uniform. "Lena, this is Daisy, who is normally, around your height." Lena laughed. "And this is Mao, obviously, your height." I held my hand out as I stood up, and she put her gloved paw to it.

"N-nice to meet you." She said.

"A pleasure." I said.

"Her Tamer, Sarah, was wondering about what it's like to work for the DGA." Scott said. "I'm concerned Arthur might try to glamorize our work." I sat back down as he got into a resting pose, which Lena nearly mirrored.

"Tell me it's not all, fast car chases and battles." She said. "I need to tell her that it's just, a job." Scott looked at me. "Scott says it's like being a police officer, but, that's just what he says, no offense." He held his hand up.

"I understand." He said. "Mao? I'm hoping you'll tell the truth about this." I put my hands behind my head.

"Well, no car chases thus far." I said. "But we've been agents for just under three weeks, and I was off duty due to orders after an injury for a few days… More or less, it's a few fights here and there, but there's a rotation, so once in a while we'll handle minor things, help out, but we're all always on call to show up at Bio-Emerging Digimon if we're in the area, even if we're technically off for a couple of weeks." She nodded slowly. "But no, it's not all action and car chases. At best, a few battles a week, drive to and from the emergence, and some paperwork now and then, and Percy takes care of that."

"Good." She said. "I'm sure that'll make her see it as a real job, not just some, romanticized career." I nodded and looked toward the back of the temple, toward a waterfall. We were in the group to meditate under it later on. "So, uh, I heard about an Impmon, that uses a pistol?" Scott put his hand to his helmet.

"Oh dear." He said quietly. I put my hands on my knees.

"Well, yeah, that'd be me." I said. I patted my belt, though Baffle was in Arthur's backpack. "I left said pistol where it wouldn't bother anyone. But, yeah, I carry a good gun."

"Why?" She asked.

"He's not a normal Impmon." Scott said. "As you're aware, there was that massive data upgrade, giving all Digimon proper genders, but it also updated us all in other ways. New attacks, new powers, and in some cases, entirely new species." She nodded. "Mao is one of them. Not an Impmon, but a subtype called 'GunImpmon'… Before Daisy says it, because I get the feeling she will." Daisy was silent, but put her gloved hand to the back of her head. "If you have heard about it, it is true, that Mao can, with a well placed shot, kill Champion level Digimon." She looked at him and then me. "And once, with my aid, he dealt the finishing blow to a Myotismon."

"Scott wore him down, a lot." I said. "If he hadn't have weakened him, I'd have been dead meat. But thanks to Scott's perseverance, and a few lucky shots from me and one from Scott, we put down a dangerous enemy." She smiled as he hid one. "Yeah, it's not exactly all deadly epic battles day in and day out, but now and then, there are some fights worth calling 'storied'."

"Hey, Mao." Arthur called as he walked over. "We should head toward the waterfalls. They'll start soon, and we don't want to miss any tips." I nodded and got up, as did the others. "Uh, you're, Lena?"

"Yes." She said. She held her paw up to him. "You must be Arthur."

"I am." He said. "And don't worry, Sarah understands we're not 'epic' warriors of justice." They both laughed. "But, she still wants us to put in a good word. We'll have to see if _you_ have what it takes. But, since you're a Gatomon and not a Salamon, that should make things easier."

"Champions are strong…" She said. "But apparently Mao is stronger." I put my hands behind my head as Scott went to speak.

"Actually, I'm weaker than some of the lower level Champions." I said. "At best. I just, double the power of my offense moves to do more damage. Apparently that's enough to kill a Champion and at least wound a mid level Ultimate."


	13. More Training, and a Big Battle

**This chapter isn't the best, but it has a role that must be fulfilled. Apart from that, enjoy.**

**Disclaimer: I, Lord Genesis Shadow, do hereby state that I do not own the rights to Digimon.  
>…<strong>

I stretched as I got off of the mat. The first thing on our list for the day was to meditate under the waterfall, and then we would eat a light breakfast and help clean the temple. I didn't mind helping out. After all, they were letting us learn for a minimal fee, so at the least, we could do some chores around the temple. As I walked out of the room, a man walked over and held a note out. I slowly took it and looked up.

"I hope you don't mind." He said. I looked at the note and read it.

'Student Mao…' I read. 'The grandmaster requests that you come to his chamber before morning training.' I looked up. "Thank you. Where do I go?" He turned and gestured for me to follow, so I put the note in my belt and followed him. As we walked, a few other recruits were waking up and stretching, while others were doing exercises in the yard already. They were definitely advanced students. When we got to the main area, he led me to a room behind the statue. As he opened it and I walked in, he walked away. I saw a Taomon resting beside the grandmaster. As I stopped at a distance, I bowed.

"Thank you for being so kind as to come." He said. I sat down on my knees as he cleared his throat. "Some of the other students are somewhat, nervous. The other Virus Digimon have already left due to being, bullied. Or so I expect. You have ignored the other students quite well."

"I'm used to it." I said. "Most of the time I would be picked on by Tamers that believed all Viruses to be evil… In particular, a boy and his Gabumon, who said all Viruses are invariably evil, despite that Gabumon would eventually become a Garurumon, a Virus." He laughed quietly, as did Taomon. "If I got mad at everyone that taunted me, I'd likely have been sent back to the Digital World about a week in." He smiled slightly, but soon stopped. "If they continue to bother me, I will let them. If all they have are words, I have nothing to fear. If they attack… Then I'll just escape. I'm fast, for a Rookie."

"So I have seen." Taomon said. "I have seen you easily keeping pace with some of the advanced students." He moved his arm slightly, and an image appeared of me and several students moving quite quickly. I was honestly surprised. "Were you to ask for private training, I believe you could easily move to the advanced classes by the end of the week."

"I, think I'd rather stay with my friends." I said. "We're here to try to bond, and become a better team. The more we know one another, the better we can protect each other, and our Tamers." The grandmaster laughed quietly. I felt strange. There was an air about him that made me imagine him as my grandfather. It was, funny, and kind of nice. "But I think we'll come back… Definitely me and Arthur. It's nice here." They both laughed quietly.

"If other students continue to bother you, and they attack you, you should defend yourself." He said. "I think, even the best students would have trouble. I have already spoken to Arthur, and he has told me of that device. I hope you will put it to great use. And if a student allows, Arthur may scan them, to add to your techniques." I smiled a little. "Thank you, for being so calm, when others might have responded with violence."

"If I fight, it won't be because someone called me names." I said. "I only fight when I'm attacked, or if there is danger to my friends or others who can't fight." They both smiled.

"Thank you." The grandmaster said. "You may go now, honorable imp." I smiled a little and stood, and bowed. As I walked out, I smiled a little more.

'That was cool.' I thought. 'It's nice to find someone that isn't bothered by me being, me.' I heard laughter, so I looked to see a few new students pointing at me, laughing. I shrugged and kept walking, mostly because I didn't care, but partly because I figured I was wearing a gun belt and a gi. When I got to the waterfall, Daisy was standing in the spray as a Palmon, in the sun. She looked cozy, so I put the note and my belt down and walked over, sitting down. "Good morning."

"Morning…" She said contentedly. "This is nice. Warm sun, cool water… This must be plant heaven." I closed my eyes and just let the spray land on my back.

"It is pretty nice." I said. She giggled softly. "So, are the others up yet?"

"Yeah, they're getting ready." She said. "They're hoping to find a better spot."

"Well, I think I had a good spot." I said. "Between you and Scott, I had water hitting me from above, and both sides." She laughed as I opened my eyes. "I had water from three angles, so I was getting the most out of the training."

"Then I suppose I will take the same spot." Scott said.

"Well, you get a helmet, so you've got it easy." I said. He laughed as he walked over and sat by us.

"I heard you were talking to the grandmaster." He said. "I hope you weren't in trouble."

"He wanted to let me know he was happy that I wasn't losing my temper from being insulted." I said. "No point in it, you know? Just words."

"I see." He said. "Good. I think Percival wouldn't be happy to have to cut our training short for a minor issue with just one of us."

"Don't worry, I won't give anyone cause to eject us." I said. The others started walking over, some stretching, while Percival carried a sleeping Riley in the crook of his arm.

"I think the water should be just what she needs to wake up." He said. "Is everyone ready? Our teacher is already here." I looked over my shoulder and up while Daisy looked back. He was up on a rock above us. "Good eye, Mao."

"That's where the spray down here is coming from." I said. "Hard not to notice."  
>…<p>

I rotated my arm as I walked onto the platform. As luck would have it, I was chosen to show my current skills against another beginner. And as fate would have it, it was Lena, without her gloves.

"Are you sure about this?" Lena asked. "I do have a bit of an advantage. I've been here for a few days longer than you have."

"It's just for fun, right?" I asked. "See where we are." She nodded.

"Whenever you are ready." The proctor said. Immediately Lena had begun closing the distance, and I remembered the movies I'd seen with martial artists. I stepped back and pushed her hand aside, dodging her kick, and spun around, surprising her with my tail as I stepped a little further back.

"You're a beginner?" She asked.

"Movies." I said. She laughed quietly and moved in, trying to hit me, but I was able to push her hands aside. "And the fact that they didn't say 'no optimizing', so, expect a boost near your level." She laughed and I spun around, hitting her feet with my tail, and I moved in.

"Enough." The proctor said. I stepped back, holding my hand out to her. She took it and stood up. "Impressive. Both of you." There was a lot of chatter among the crowd. "Next…" He announced the next two as we walked down toward our Tamers.

"Movies?" She asked.

"More than a few." I said. "I pay attention." Arthur put his hand on my head and laughed.

"It's true." He said. "You're a natural."

"No kiddin'." Sarah said. I looked up at her. I'd never been near her when she was speaking, so I wasn't aware she had an Australian accent. It was an honest surprise to me. "You beat my girl, and that's not easy, 'specially not for a Rook." She gave me a fairly hard pat on the back, making me laugh. "If I did manage to join the DGA, I think I'd want to be with you lot."

"W-well, that'd be okay by me…" Arthur said.

"I don't have a problem with a new team member." Percy said. "And we're already starting to bond, oui?" Sarah laughed.

"It'd be nice to have a girl around my age to talk to." Annabelle said.

"I don't mind." Riley said.

"Oh boy…" Lena said. I looked at her.

"Hey, four Champions and Mao." Arthur said. "So, five Champions, about." Sarah laughed and punched his shoulder.

"Just wait 'til he finally gets there." She said.

"I keep hearing that." I said. "Hopefully it'll be soon, or it's all I'm ever going to hear." They all laughed as Scott was called up, as well as another Angemon. We all looked over. "Battle for the ages?"

"No, I hate to say it Percy, but I think Scott's goin' down." Sarah said. "I've seen that flyboy, and he's tough. Took on Greymon in a one on one, and put him in the ground _hard_. Scott may be an Angemon, but that boy, Michael, is on another level." Percy looked curiously at her before looking up.

"Begin." The proctor said. Scott went in fairly fast, but like Lena against me, he couldn't land a hit. It was like watching a movie where the either the hero was woefully outmatched near the start, for Scott, or for Michael, a hero that had trained for long enough to master techniques the bad guy wasn't ever able to attempt.

"This isn't a bad thing, he may recover." Percy said. He sounded unsure.

"No…" I said. "This fight was over the moment Scott's name was called." I felt him looking at me. "Look at Michael. He's not trying. Scott is. He's giving his all…"

"How bad is…" Riley started. Before she could finish, Michael hit Scott three times in the chest, fairly fast, and Scott fell back, hard.

"Word has it he trained on his own." Sarah said. "To where he could handle enemies of similar form, but higher levels. I've heard rumors he's Ultimate capable."

"Not the first time Scott's faced those odds." Arthur said. "He wore down a Devimon that went Myotismon… H-he can…" I shook my head.

"He can do it." Riley said. Scott got up and kept fighting, visibly trying his hardest to land a hit, but each time he got close, Michael would push his hands or feet aside like it was nothing, and it was obvious Scott was running out of steam, fast. "He… Oh, who am I kidding? He's done for." Michael landed a hard strike to Scott's shoulder, throwing him to the ground on his chest.

"Enough." The proctor said. Scott slowly got up as Michael walked down the steps toward his Tamer. Scott walked down as well, somewhat shakily. When he got over, he had his hand on his shoulder, and definitely looked like he'd seen better days.

"That was, brutal." Arthur said. "Are you okay?"

"He wasn't holding back." Scott said quietly. "He didn't pull his punches, from the start. He was acting like it was a real fight…"

"But, the proctor said it was just practice." Lena said. "Why would he try to hurt you?"

"I don't know." Scott said quietly. "It's… Difficult to say." He looked over his shoulder. "But something, felt off about him. It was like, he was angry at me. Like he wanted to _actually_ harm me." He sat down and I walked up, looking at his shoulder, and there was already a bruise forming.

"Just say the word, and I'll set up a prank that can't be traced to any of us." I said.

"No…" He said. "We are here to train, and bond, not to… Put soap on his staff, or paint the front of his helmet black…" I thought for a moment and scoffed. "What?"

"Paint on the helmet?" I asked quietly. "Seriously? You really are an angel. Seriously, that's amateur level stuff. Where's the chain reaction? Where's the cause and effect? Soap the staff, that could work great, his staff goes flying and breaks something easily replaceable, he gets scolded and has to pay for it, and his Tamer scolds him. That's a half decent one, granted, but paint? Too easy, leaves a mess, and soap washes off of your hands and if you're caught, you forgot to wash on the way out of the bathroom." The others laughed. "Give me ten minutes and I'll give you a prank that'll leave him checking shadows all around him for a week and a half." He sighed and slowly got up.

"Well, I'll think about your proposal." He said, making the others laugh. "There's no reason to be angry at him… Maybe he just didn't hear it… Late, perhaps."  
>…<p>

I adjusted the sleeves of the uniform for a moment before Arthur ran in. I looked up and he panted.

"Mao, there's a fight in the courtyard, wild Digimon came through, lots." He said. I grabbed Baffle from his backpack and ran toward him. "It's a, uh… What was it…" We got close to the corner. "Uh…" A fireball flew past us while Taomon battled something, very familiar. An Etemon.

"Oh joy." I said.

"That, wasn't there." He said. I looked down and saw dozens of Digimon running around, attacking the students' Digmon. "What is that thing?"

"Etemon." I said. "Guy in a monkey costume, strong, thinks he's a god in Digimon form. Champion over there, is a Black Tyrannomon, and there are a lot of Digimon of varying types around… Why are there so many?"

"Now's not the time." He said. Daisy rushed through a crowd of small Digimon, throwing them into an open portal while Scott hit the dinosaur with his Hand of Fate. Michael was nowhere to be seen, but the others were defending the students. "We're on orders to drop the dino, and provide support."

"Orders?" I asked.

"Grandmaster's." He said. I ran toward him and the others while he watched Taomon. I immediately took aim.

"Calm yourself." The grandmaster said. I looked back at him. "Just stay focused, don't let your excitement lead you astray." I slowly looked back and took a breath. I watched for a moment as I aimed. It was far too early for me to be able to utilize any lessons, but I could at least listen to him. "Let the moment tell you when to strike." Scott dodged claw swipes and flames, and I saw a pattern emerging. I slowly took aim, closing my eye.

"Optimizing accuracy." Arthur said. "Arms, eyes." I felt the changes and my vision became sharp enough that I could actually make out the details on Scott's staff and the Black Tyrannomon's scales. After a moment of aiming, I focused my power.

"Dark Round." I said calmly. I pulled the trigger and the bullet shot forward and hit it through the right eye as it looked at me, and left a decent hole. As it disappeared, I looked at the Etemon as Taomon dodged a few hard punches.

"You are as the others had said." The grandmaster mused. "Is it also true you can harm Ultimate level foes?"

"If I can hit them." I said. I moved down onto my knee. "Can you get him where I can get a clear shot? And hold him there?" He produced a flute and began playing it, and Taomon moved back, jumping, and Etemon followed until they were both on top of the wall, and Etemon was off balance. I aimed at his head. I let out a breath as I tuned out most of the sound, and I focused the shot again. "Dark Round." I pulled the trigger, and as before, the bullet raced toward the target, but he jumped up slightly, moving just forward enough for the bullet to catch him in the shoulder instead of the neck, and he hit the wall, holding on. "Not, where I wanted it…" Taomon waited for Etemon to stand up, but he suddenly jumped toward us. I saw it, rage. Taomon chased him but I took aim.

"You little traitor!" He yelled. "You could have joined Traynor!" I lowered the barrel.

"Traynor…" I repeated quietly.

"You're dead!" He screamed.

"Mao!" Arthur said quickly. "Take the shot!" I raised the barrel again.

"Dark Rounds!" I called. I fired repeatedly, hitting him, in order, in the stomach, in the leg, and in the forehead. He skidded for only a moment before disappearing into nothing. The battle was already winding down as Taomon landed near me, and I lowered Baffle.

"You hesitated." He said.

"That name." Arthur said. "Traynor. That's the second time we've heard it. Both times, from an Ultimate… A Virus…" Data flew to me and Arthur while none went to the Digital World. "It can't be a coincidence. Can it?"

"It is very unlikely." Taomon said. "Whoever this Traynor is, Etemon was chasing you, and a few I had fought before him, mentioned an Impmon, with a pistol, a revolver." I looked at Baffle. "Someone is seeking you."

"We have to head to HQ." Arthur said. I heard fairly heavy footsteps.

"I've already called." Percy said. "I told them about the attack. They're going to send agents to defend the temple in case it happens again. There was another attack." I looked at him. "Half a mile away from the police station that was attacked. Someone mentioned that a few mentioned an Impmon. The chief says we're to come in." I heard a pair of running footsteps.

"I'm comin' along." Sarah said. We looked at her.

"This might be a bad time." Percy said. "They're after something. This might not be…"

"Hey, we held our own out there, big guy." She said. "We can handle whatever's comin' from the Digi-world." He was silent.

"It may be difficult to tell the chief." He said. "You'll be a civilian for a while."

"I don't care." She said. "You're goin', we're goin'… Uh, sorry, grandmaster, but I guess that means…"

"That you will return when you are able." He said. "I understand. Thank you all, for defending our temple from those cowards."  
>….<p>

"So, according to the reports, they're after a specific Impmon." The chief said. "From what we've found out, this has happened all over the country. Always gets put down due to courageous Tamers and their Digimon, but this is the first time something like this has happened. We're supposed to find this 'Traynor' and put him out of commission. We've started checks, but the information is in." He leaned forward as the others looked at me. "Nationwide, Ultimate level Virus Digimon were asking for an Impmon, wearing a red neckerchief, a brown gun belt, carrying a revolver. Any chance there are more than just you?" I shrugged.

"If it's nationwide…" I said.

"There was only _one_ that asked kindly, without attacking." He said. He sat back. "Asked for an Impmon carrying a revolver called 'Baffle'. Word around the lab is that you named a weapon 'Bamboozle'. Am I right to assume, you name all of your weapons, Mao?" I put my hand on Baffle.

"It was looking for me." I said. An image flashed. "She's here."

"She?" Arthur asked.

"She is." The chief said. "She's not here on behalf of Traynor. She's here on her own. Says she's got an idea. You're going to talk to her, and our newest agent's joining your squad."

"Who?" Sarah asked.

"You should know." He said. He tossed a badge to her and she caught it, awkwardly. "Agent Valentine. The paperwork needs to be done, but we'll handle it later." He tossed a second badge to Lena. "The Digimon you're to talk to is in the break room. There will be three Ultimate Digimon guarding it, and only two of you are to go in. Make your choice before you get there. Two Digimon, nothing to let us listen in. Not like she wouldn't jam anything anyway. Her name is…"

"Lady Devimon." I said.


	14. More Time Off, A Cryptic Message

**When we last left our intrepid heroes, Sarah had unofficially, then officially, joined the squad, after a somewhat short battle at the temple, during which a familiar name was heard. Following a short talk with the chief, another familiar individual was mentioned. What does it all mean? Let's find out, on today's new, plot heavy, episode of Digital Sheriff.**

**Disclaimer: I, Lord Genesis Shadow, do hereby state that I do not own the rights to Digimon. Thank you, and enjoy.  
>…<strong>

"It's been a long time." She said. I jumped onto the chair and turned toward her. She had her normal arm on the table, her other arm resting on her lap. Scott stood somewhat nervously to my side. "How is that interesting revolver?"

"Pulls a little to the right these days." I said. "Other than that, changed a little for a few minutes, but went back to normal after a fight." She smiled a little, but looked at Scott.

"Are you okay, holy one?" She asked. He didn't move or speak. "Oh, don't worry, I'm not here to cause trouble. I'll head home as soon as I'm done with my business here. I promise." He was still silent, but she seemed almost playful. "So, 'Mao'. I assume you've made the connection."

"About Traynor?" I asked. "Only that Ultimates keep mentioning the name, including one sitting before me. I didn't get an answer to who it is."

"It's more like, they." She said. "Traynor is a group of people using the name. They're all capable Tamers, dangerous, with powerful allies at the Ultimate level. Myotismon, Etemon, Metal Greymon, WereGarurumon, and a handful of others. Two of their Digimon, have been killed. The rest fled when they were outnumbered. Myotismon was too proud, and Etemon was too, temperamental. Lost his cool." Scott tapped his staff with his finger. "My guess, you were the one to pull the trigger, both times."

"I did…" I said.

"They chose the right places, but the worst times, to gather information as to their mission." She said. "But, you need to reach your next form, Mao." She moved her clawed arm to the table and pointed at me with it. "I think, it will happen, sometime very soon. I can feel it." I crossed my arms. "And, you, oh silent angel…" Scott made a sound, and I knew he had tensed. "You look about two or three months off of your Ultimate form, give or take a month. I'm pretty sure you'll be a lot stronger, and, a little more, handsome." He was silent. "Maybe enough that Etemon wouldn't be a threat."

"Why are you _really_ here?" He asked.

"Oh, you _can_ speak." She said. "And you sound quite strong. I bet that staff would knock _me_ for a loop." He moved his arm and she laughed quietly. "Let's just say I'm a friend you'll need in the future. When you need help at a critical moment, I'll be there… For now, let's just say Traynor thinks the same of me, and I'm here to gather information. I have all I need thanks to a few bugs and a few minutes. I can put them off for a few weeks." She looked at me and gestured. "Mao, you have a very important role in the future. More than you realize. When the time is right, just say the right words at the time where she needs to hear them the most." I blinked.

"What words, to who?" I asked.

"You'll know the words, and you'll know who." She said. She stood up. "And now, I'm going back to the Digital World…" She snapped her normal hand's fingers. "Oh, I almost forgot. I was meant to give you these." She reached into her jumpsuit and pulled out a letter, and then she reached behind her and pulled out a box. She set them down and leaned close to me, making me somewhat nervous. "Good luck, little gunslinger. When we next meet, I want you to be a _lot_ stronger." She kissed my forehead and Scott seemed wary as she walked out of the room. "Okay boys, I'm ready to leave. Thank you for being so kind as to not listen in." I looked at the letter and slowly picked it up.

"Mao…" Scott said.

"I know, I know, she's an Ultimate level virus who is very ambiguous to her loyalties." I said. "But I, get the feeling we can trust a letter." He was silent as I opened it, and I began reading.

"What language is that?" He asked.

"Looks like something from the Dark Area." I said. "I'll translate it later and get a copy to the chief… Listen to this, right here." I put my finger to the top and he leaned in. "GunImpmon, slayer of Champions and Ultimates, your services to humanity have made your loyalties clear. It is sad that you have decided to fight against your own people, and worse, against your fellow Viruses. In time, you will be found properly, and you will be killed for your insolence. Should you come to your senses before then, you will be welcomed as a lieutenant in our army." I looked at him. "Basically, it goes on like that, listing reasons why I should side with them, and not the enemy, but they never once say who the enemy is. It's just… A bunch of babbling as far as I'm concerned. Some joker playing what he thinks is a game or something." He nodded as I looked at the letter. "Here's the part that really gets me though. This isn't written by a computer. This is handwritten. Whether it's a Digimon or a human is, at this point, unknown. We'll want to get this to someone to analyze the writing to see if the writer is human or not."

"Continue reading." He said. "Is it signed?"

"Yeah." I said. "Here, the bottom paragraph." I cleared my throat. "You have taken a name, something your people should not do. It is a blasphemy to your culture, where you came from. Renounce it soon, join our cause, and you will have power over the city you lived in when we take what is rightfully ours. General Traynor."

"Human." He said.

"Not necessarily." I said. "Maybe it's an alias for a Digimon, solely for the purpose of us knowing what to call him. In that way, it wouldn't be hypocritical, right?" He nodded after a moment.

"I see your point." He said. I folded the letter and looked at the box. "We should have it analyzed." I jumped up on the table and looked at him.

"There's nothing electronic in it." I said. "If there was, you know I could disarm a bomb just by focusing on it and hacking it." He was silent, but he nodded. I looked down at the box and slowly, carefully, opened it. After I got the lid off, I put it aside, and blinked.

"Is that…" He started.

"Yeah, I think it is." I said. I pulled out a revolver and stared at it for a moment. "The original Baffle."

"Impossible." He said. "You lost it over a cliff."

"I didn't say it would be destroyed." I said. I looked at him. "It's Chrome Digizoid, after all. Why do you think it's so durable?" I drew the Baffle I had from its holster and held them side by side. "Yeah, this is the original alright. Granted, the original is scratched, scuffed, and beat all to hell… But speaking of hell, how _in_ the hell did she get it into the box in the first place?"

"Yes, that, is a good question." He said. "It shocks whoever tries to pick it up that doesn't have your permission." I was silent for a moment, but looked up at him. "What?"

"You realize I just became twice as useful to the team." I said. He laughed after a moment. "Two barrels, twelve bullets. At normal power, I won't have to reload to fire on a twelve targets with Dark Rounds." He sighed and took the letter.

"Let's tell the others what we found, and you can start translating the letter for the chief." He said. I jumped onto the chair and then the floor as I holstered the original Baffle. "Not the new one?"

"The original is special to me." I said. "I had it for years. Yeah, Baffle Jr. is great, just as powerful in every respect, but I've had it for, maybe three years."  
>…<p>

"So, she said it would be soon?" The chief asked. I nodded. "She thinks you'll Digivolve… Could it have something to do with that data that finished uploading?" I shrugged.

"In all honesty, I have no clue." I said. "All I know for sure is that I can't be the only one Traynor is trying to, convert. Whatever he or she is up to, something's up…" He nodded and put his fingertips together.

"And, the Lady Devimon." He said. "She brought you your original revolver." I nodded and drew it, holding it up slightly.

"Scratched, a few small dings, but I checked the barrel and it's safe to fire." I said. "I can fix it completely later, but this _is_ the original. I have no doubt about that." He nodded as I holstered it again. "However she grabbed it… It might have been sheer willpower, or she suppressed it. Whatever's going on, I'll be wary for a while, but I trust it. I know Baffle, and this is it." After a moment he nodded and looked at the letter.

"Now all that remains are three questions." He said. "First, is Traynor human, or Digimon, and if so, is he a Tamer, or is he bonded to one?"

"I'd say human, but that's just going on the handwriting." I said. "It looks human."

"Second, what is he planning?" He said. "It's obvious there's an entire army going on, as he signed his letter as 'general' Traynor. Is he the head general, or one of many told to write a letter?"

"You said there were attacks all over." I said. "And they didn't feel like wild Digimon. Ask any Digimon that fought. There are definitely Tamers involved… Not everyone can be a Tamer, so maybe, he or they think that Tamers are different than normal humans, and deserve to rule."

"And third…" He said. "How did _you_ meet that Lady Devimon?"

"Portal." I said. "I had just descended a cliff after killing a bunch of DemiDevimon and a Tsukaimon, and she found me. She had opened a portal and sent me here. I _know_ that she was the same one I talked to, who gave me back my revolver." He nodded. "Whatever her role is, she has a Tamer now, but whether or not we can trust them is up in the air. But that's just my opinion." He was silent before putting his hands on the table.

"I've made a decision." He said. "Your team is off duty until you reach Champion. When your team is all Champion capable, you're back on as usual. We'll continue, but we're going to lobby for expanding our forces in all states, we're going to recruit, and build more bases. We have special systems that are good at stopping bio-emerging Digimon from appearing, so we'll try to build those around major cities, and try to get them everywhere… Do you have any ideas on that point?"

"Yeah, limit it." I said. He seemed confused. "If Digimon can't bio-emerge, then if we start running low on forces because we're being taken down by Traynor's forces, then we can't replenish our ranks." He nodded.

"Major places, but not general cities." He said. "It'll be a risk, but you're right, we can't just cut off the flow completely." He stood up. "Go to your team, tell them the order to stay off duty until you reach Champion. Whatever is going on, you might be a major player in this. I have to call the rest of the bigwigs. I may be the chief here, but the director needs to know about this, and he has to deal with them. Odds are, I'll be in on it." I nodded and he walked over to the door, so I followed him and we walked out. "Good luck. When you come back, be sure Arthur sends me a picture of what you look like." I walked toward the others while he went up a flight of stairs. When I got in, the others looked at me.

"So, what's up?" Arthur asked. The others were in their Champion forms, even Daisy. "Do we have any missions?"

"Yeah." I said. "Chief's orders are… To stay off duty until I become a Champion."

"What?" Scott asked. I held my hands up.

"Hey, not my idea." I said. "I want to know what's going on just as much as you. This is big, and, he said to me to stay off duty until I reach my Champion form. Talk to him if you want total confirmation, tell him you want to do something else." I lowered my hands. "But, we're off duty. Lady Devimon said I'd Digivolve sometime soon. I don't know what that's supposed to mean. I don't know how she knew, but… I think she meant natural Digivolution."

"That sounds unlikely." Scott said. I pointed at him.

"How long have you been like that?" I asked. He was silent. "Three days?"

"Daisy hasn't gone back…" Annabelle said.

"Lena changed about a month ago, never went back." Sarah said.

"Harrigan's still a Kotemon, but, he said it takes less work to stay a Dinohyumon." Riley said.

"So basically, we might all be our Champion forms for good soon." I said. "Sometimes it's a one-off, sometimes it takes staying that way and getting so used to it you just get locked in one day. Scott, do you feel any exertion?" He shook his head. "Daisy?"

"No." She said.

"Lena, for one month, any effort?" I asked. She shook her head. "Harrigan, is it tough to stay big and green?" He shook his head after a few moments. "So, it's likely. You might be naturally stuck as you are now, Scott, Daisy. Even if I'm not, it'll be good to have whatever my next form is."

"Well, let's just, go do something." Arthur said. Everyone looked at him. "Hey, we're off duty. And, you know, we missed breakfast _and_ lunch. It's about time for dinner, and mom isn't expecting us."

"Oh, yeah, her legendary cookin'." Sarah said. "Maybe we'll see that tomorrow after you call her up." I shrugged.

"Where do we eat?" I asked.

"Burgers!" Riley said, raising her hand quickly. "Big burgers. Double bacon cheese, no veggies!" Everyone slowly started laughing.

"Hey, I've got just the place in mind." Annabelle said. "Arctic Circle. Double bacon cheeseburgers, good fries… And the fry sauce is great." My stomach growled, and they laughed a little more.

"Wherever we're going, I say we go now before I eat my belt." I said. I started walking toward the door. Riley cheered and ran ahead of me as Arthur walked behind me.

"Alright then, let's go." He said. "Now _I'm_ hungry."  
>…<p>

I settled against the side of the tree, sighing quietly as the others worked on their meals. It wasn't quite as good as Mara's cooking, but the burgers weren't bad. A double bacon cheeseburger pretty much put me at a point where if there were a fight, I'd lose, no argument, if I couldn't find the energy to raise Baffle and fire a Dark Round.

"Hey, Mao, you okay?" Sarah asked. I held my hand up, giving an 'OK' gesture. "You sure? You look like you're not about to get up anytime soon."

"That's why I'm okay." I said. The others laughed. "Give me an hour and I think I'll be able to stand… Might take another hour to manage _walking_, but that's another challenge." They laughed a little more as I sighed. As expected, Daisy was still a Togemon, Scott was still an Angemon, and we all knew Lena wouldn't turn back to a Salamon. "Anyone else about here so I won't be alone as a big block of uselessness?" Scott laughed quietly.

"I think I'm there, buddy." Arthur said. "One more bite, and I'll need to call a cab to get us all home." Sarah laughed and punched his shoulder.

"Ah, you're a lightweight." She said. "I could still eat another burger… Not a double bacon cheeseburger, but hey, that's a lot of beef." He laughed and walked over to the tree by me and sat down.

"Well, I know my limits." He said. "I know one more fry would probably make us stay here for the night. I can't drive with a gut full to bursting."

"I can drive." She said. I held my hands up.

"It's a miracle!" I said dramatically. Arthur put his hat on my head and pulled it down. I set my arms on my stomach and everyone laughed again.

"Yeah, let's see you drive when you turn Champion." He said. "Get a driver's license."

"So, seriously, I can drive." Sarah said. "Tell ya what, we'll stay at my house tonight. I've got _more_ than enough room, and, I figure we could stand to know a little more about each other. What better place than one of our homes?" I held my right hand up.

"You have my vote, if only because you paid for the burgers." I said. Arthur laughed.

"You know, maybe we could all spend the week going to each others' homes." He said. "Even if it's just to visit for a while. Good way to get to know each other, figure out what questions to ask to learn."

"I can agree to that." Percy said. "I can think of nothing better than getting to know each other and how we all live. We're to be partners, but also friends. Right?" Everyone agreed. "All of us except for Miss Valentine have been to Arthur's home, more than once, and while I doubt my cooking will ever reach Mrs. Rowe's, a home cooked meal every day would be nice, eh?"

"Nothin' better if you ask me." Riley said. "Er, about a home cooked meal, I mean." The others laughed as I pulled the hat up.

"True." I said. "We'll see about your cooking when it's your turn."

"Then if the offer still stands, and providing we all can as well…" Percy said.

"A little rest and relaxation tonight, and a good night's sleep." Sarah said.

"Well, let's finish eating first." Lena said. "This fish isn't too bad." I leaned up slightly and moved back. "Mao?"

"Nope, not happening right now." I groaned. "Too much beef, being digested." Riley giggled as Harrigan finished his fries, and promptly fell back.

"Harry?" Sarah asked. He put his hands on his stomach as Riley fell down just like him.

"We're stuffed." She said. "Can't move. Need, to be picked up." Sarah laughed while Annabelle let out a sigh.

"I don't think I can finish." She said. Sarah patted her back.

"One day, you'll eat like an Aussie." She said.

"Aussie?" Daisy asked.

"You know, an Australian, like me." Sarah said, pointing at herself with her thumb. "Don't tell me you didn't know. Come on, the accent's a dead giveaway!"

"It is a very memorable accent." Percy said. "Very friendly."

"Not like a French accent, which, while friendly, is sophisticated as heck." Sarah said. Percy laughed. "'course there are guys that love my accent, keep sayin' it's sexy or hot."

"Well, it is sexy…" Arthur said quietly. She laughed and I knew he was blushing.

"Well, good thing I don't mind hearin' that, Yank." She said. "But yeah, I think it's sexy too." I held my hand up.

"Agreed." I said. Most of the others laughed, save for Lena and Scott, and Harrigan, who was busy trying to sit up in time with Riley, who was groaning.


	15. Getting Acquainted, Surprises Abound

**When we last left our intrepid heroes, they decided to go visit their friends after becoming thoroughly stuffed full of cheeseburgers and fries, and quite possibly a few chicken fingers. The vacation they took was cut short, but they're still friends, and now it's a matter of becoming closer as a group, to improve their effectiveness against their enemies. Due to this, a related fact about DGA Guidelines, which I may start adding now and then when it makes sense.**

**DGA Guideline #27: A Team of agents is recommended to go beyond the bonds of merely being coworkers or allies. The mentality should be that your team is nothing less than your friends, maybe even an extended family if things work out right. A bond between friends is greater than the bonds of being a team, because the bonds forged in the fires of battle are stronger than almost any other bond. It is, with this thought in mind, recommended that all teams spend a few weeks together doing things friends would do together. Building up this bond leads to the team, as a whole, becoming stronger, and the Tamer/Digimon bond growing stronger still, leading to the Digimon becoming stronger and possibly speeding up the rate of Digivolution as the Tamer and Digimon become more synchronized.**

**Disclaimer: I, Lord Genesis Shadow, do hereby state that I do not own the rights to Digimon. Thank you, and have a nice day.  
>…<strong>

I stared as we walked into the mansion, where a man in a black and white suit walked over and held out a tray. Sarah put her purse on it and he looked at us.

"Oh, Franklin, these are my friends." She said. "Well, friends slash coworkers." She gestured to each of us. "This is the head of the team, Percival Canterbury, Percy, and his partner Scott. That's Riley he's carrying on his arm, and Harrigan on his shoulder, her partner. That's Annabelle Summers, Ann, and her partner, the mighty Daisy."

"H-hello." Annabelle said.

"And this is Arthur Rowe, the Yank, and his good buddy Mao." Sarah said.

"Greetings." Franklin said. "Shall I prepare the guest rooms?"

"Sure, um…" Sarah said. She counted us. "Ann, I have a pretty big bed, so, mind if we share?"

"S-sure." She said, laughing. "Sounds fun."

"Riley, you might be able to squeeze in if you want, for a girl's night." Sarah said.

"Sure." Riley said. "I think I can actually walk now." Percy knelt and set her down as Harrigan dropped to the floor.

"Percy, I know you'll need your own bed." Sarah said. He laughed. "So, that's two between you and Scott… Arthur?"

"I'll be fine with just anything." He said.

"Okay, room for you…" She said. "Daisy, it might be a little tough to find a bed, but, we do have a pretty nice indoor garden, where the sun hits perfect every morning."

"Okay." Daisy said. "Sounds good."

"And, Mao, you sleep in a hammock?" Sarah asked.

"I can sleep just about anywhere." I said. "If I had a hose and a mask, I could probably sleep at the bottom of a pool." She laughed and Arthur put his hand on my head. "Harrigan, same?" He nodded. "Okay, so…"

"I will prepare them accordingly." Franklin said. "Are any of you allergic to any fabrics, that you are aware of?" We all looked at one another and shook our heads. "Then I shall use the good linens. I am sure they will be comfortable. And, are there any provisions you would like? A midnight snack perhaps, or a drink in the morning?"

"Some, coffee, in the morning?" Arthur asked.

"I could perhaps use a small tea cake, if there are any?" Percy said.

"I believe we have a few in the refrigerator." Franklin said.

"I think some PJs are in order for the girls." Sarah said. "And I think we'll all take breakfast out in the garden, so Daisy can enjoy the sun."

"Of course." Franklin said. "Your parents are not yet aware of your friends, and would likely enjoy meeting them. They are by the pool, currently." He walked over and set the tray down. "And while I am here, I should tell you all the ground rules, since Miss Valentine does not like reciting them. The upper east wing is off limits due to minor renovations that are being done during the day, as is the west wing's vivarium." He gestured. "The kitchen is here, and you need only speak to one of the staff to let them know you are eating or drinking something so that they do not have to look for it if they were intending to use it later." He gestured to the stairs. "The guest bedrooms will be made available shortly, and when you are ready to retire, speak to one of the cleaning staff and they will show you to your room. And lastly." He looked at us all. "There are some levels of attire asked of guests, that you are not currently meeting, so I would suggest following me to the changing room." Sarah put her hand to her face. "It is nothing serious, just a proper set of shoes and a jacket. Mr. Canterbury, you have your own jacket, so you merely need a change of shoes. If you would all like, we are happy to clean your current attire, and if I know Miss Valentine, you are welcome to keep the temporary attire." Arthur slowly looked at his clothes.

"Well…" He said.

"Miss Valentine, perhaps you should speak to your parents now." Franklin said. "I shall see your friends to you as they are ready."

"Okay." She said. She walked up to him and hugged him. "Thanks Franklin. You're a peach." He laughed warmly as she walked toward a hall.

"She is a very kind young lady, if a little 'wild' for her parents' taste." He said. He turned to us. "Don't worry, I am positive Mr. and Mrs. Valentine will be quite welcoming to you all." He gestured and started walking, so we followed him. "As I can see, a few of you will not be wearing shoes, but we do have jackets in your size… Master Harrigan, I assume you will want to keep your current attire?" Harrigan was silent. "Master Harrigan?" I walked forward.

"He's nodding." I said. "He doesn't say much."

"I see." He said. "Well, that is fine. I am certain someone will speak for him unless he decides to say what he wishes to be said." He opened a set of large double doors and we followed him in, slowing down. Several people looked over and as we stopped, they moved up to us, measuring us. "Do not fret, they are merely making certain they get the proper size for comfort, and they will find the proper jackets that suit you, so to speak." I held my arm up as a woman measured my arms, and she looked at my belt.

"Will you be wearing this…" She started. "And, keeping these, weapons?"

"Uh, yeah, but if there's a problem I can leave them in Arthur's pack." I said. "I don't want to cause trouble… Which, must seem odd, coming from an Impmon." Franklin laughed quietly.

"Miss Valentine keeps a loaded twenty two caliber pistol on her person at all times." He said. I blinked, but nodded.

"I thought I saw something tucked into her jacket." I said. Arthur laughed.

"You _would_ notice a pistol on someone." He said.

"Yes, for that reason, you are all allowed to carry your sidearms…" Franklin said. "Apart from Miss Riley."

"You can just call me Riley." She said.

"Of course." He said. "Merely formality. It is a part of my training."

"Cool." Annabelle said. "Er, that you're so, nice to everyone."

"Well, if one is unkind, it leads to a very quick dismissal." He said. "We are picked for our skills, first and foremost, but personality is also a strict requirement."  
>…<p>

I looked at the hot tub and slowly stepped toward it. I turned slightly and tested it with my tail. Co-ed hot tubbing wasn't something I expected for the day, but it was pretty cool. Sarah was still talking to her parents, and we'd yet to get a chance to talk to her, but her parents were very nice, and surprisingly down to earth, considering how much money they must have had.

"How is it?" Daisy asked. I moved my tail before stepping in, one foot at a time, hissing slightly.

"Hot, but…" I started. "Not too hot." I sat down as the others started getting in, and immediately Arthur jumped.

"Whoa, what do you mean not too hot?" He asked. The others laughed as he stepped in. "Jeeze, warn me next time." Daisy slowly got in, and the water level rose, but luckily there were plenty of places for it to go back into the circulation. She sat down as I held onto the pipe next to me, while Harrigan just sat at the edge. "So, am I the only one amazed that, our new friend is a millionaire?"

"It caught me off guard." I said. "But, it's pretty awesome. I mean…" I looked around for a moment. "All of this, and she invited us over. Every, what, five days, if we keep a rotation, we come here, and get to stay here."

"And in that same rotation, we get to eat Mrs. Rowe's heavenly cooking." Percy said. "I agree though, this is a surprise, but it is a welcome one. We have seen that she is capable, with her obvious upbringing. What surprises me, is that neither of her parents have an Australian accent."

"Well, we'll ask her." Riley said. Annabelle nodded, but seemed somewhat nervous. "Ann?"

"W-well…" She said quietly. "I uh, kind of, come from a, well off family." I looked at her. "Like… This, well off… Almost."

"Wow." Arthur said. "Uh, cool?"

"K-kind of." She said. "My parents, are a little less, nice. They're, probably not going to let you stay over, but, I don't know yet. They're, uh, _elitist_. Big time." I put my hands behind my head. "Like, if you're not able to enjoy what they like, they'll probably just kind of, write you off. I, told them, about all of you, except Sarah, and, they said they want to meet you anyway… I don't know if that'll last."

"Well, it won't be a surprise this time." I said. The others agreed when a door opened. I leaned back and saw Sarah, and I knew Arthur was staring. She wore a very skimpy bikini, a one piece, that showed off most of her body, though it was modest enough to cover everything. "You know, some Digimon like humans as more than friends." She laughed. "I can now understand _why_ that thought exists." She stepped in over by Arthur, and he shifted.

"Thank you, Mao." She said. "Sorry I took so long… I uh, figure you're probably, talking about, all this?"

"Y-yeah." Arthur said. "But, Annabelle's much the same." She looked at Annabelle.

"Parents loaded?" Sarah asked. Annabelle laughed nervously, but nodded. "Cool… And eh, the accent, I guess, must be on your minds. Why do I, a young lass with a powerful Gatomon, have an Aussie accent, while my parents have a Midwestern accent?" The others were quiet. "Real parents are in Australia, always wanted their girl to have the best chance at life, gave me up for special adoption, asking a family that owed them a favor for a lot of help a few years prior. I had a choice… Wanted to make my mum happy, wanted dad to be proud of me… Mr. and Mrs. Valentine were, trying for a kid, I lucked out and got a brother, who is now taking courses at a private school, comes home on the weekends, so we'll see him, actually, in the morning, I hope." I nodded as she laughed. "They've been good to me, treat me like I'm their own, but my parents visit once a year, for my birthday, and you'll laugh when you find out what day that's on. But, I'm lucky. Livin' a good life, got four parents that love me, got a little brother that's tryin' his hardest to be like his big sis by bein' smart."

"Wow." Riley said quietly. "Lucky." We all laughed quietly.

"What about you, Yank?" Sarah asked. Everyone looked at Arthur.

"You can't just, call me Arty, like Mao does?" He asked.

"Well, he already uses it, and you're the Yankee boy." She said. "Riley calls ya Arthur, Ann calls ya Arthur with a little joy in her tone, probably 'cause you're so nice to her…" Annabelle blushed deeply. "Perce calls ya Mr. Rowe when he's not talking to you, but about you… And Mao calls ya Arty. Everyone else, Arthur. So, Yank." He laughed.

"Okay, okay…" He said. "Uh, parents?" Everyone nodded. "Well, my mother was an award winning chef, now she's a stay at home mom, and she'll occasionally cook at a fancy restaurant on a consulting basis for money… Keeps us living, comfortably. My dad…" He leaned back a little. "Marine, on his third tour, they'll let him stay with us after he gets back."

"Wow." Sarah said.

"Yeah, he's a great guy." Arthur said. "He's, a sniper, actually. Threat neutralizer, he calls it. But, he's on so many ops, he can't often write to us. We just trust that he's okay."

"A brave man." Percy said. Arthur nodded.

"Can't wait to meet him." I said. "He should be home in a little under a month?"

"Two, three weeks." Arthur said. "But, other than that, I led a pretty boring life, up until Mao popped out of a computer and…" He reached back and gestured to the Optimizer. "That thing showed up on my arm." He moved back. "It was, a big change, things got a little more exciting, and now, I have a job as an agent protecting the city with my buddy."

"Sounds like a good life." Percy said.

"Just for that, your turn." Arthur said. Percy laughed.

"Well, I'm not exactly rich, nor are my parents a fantastic chef or a proud soldier." He said. "My father is an accountant and my mother is a lawyer, so we've always had more than enough money to get by on, and we have a fairly big house… I'm sure we've got some air mattresses and enough rope to make a hammock. My father does enjoy sailing from time to time, always has a little extra rope around the house." He leaned back a little. "I went to college for a year, but unfortunately, I was, expelled. I was entirely unaware that having a Digimon in my room was against the charter unless I was in a fraternity, and I was not. So, that plan down, Scott and I worked hard to get the card to bring him to Champion, and then the DGA found us one day, fending off a fairly large number of Vegiemon. They stepped in, helped us finish them off, and offered us a job… This was, four days before Arthur was asked to join. Since then… Well, you all joined us and we became a full squad, as of today." Everyone laughed quietly, and I smiled.

"Well, we have a college educated leader, even if it was just one year." I said. He laughed quietly.

"Well, it's not too interesting." He said. "But, uh, as is said, time to pass the story stick, yes? Annabelle? You said your family is, well off?" She nodded.

"My parents own stock in a lot of companies." She said. "Dad's a world class stock trader, able to predict where the market would change, good or bad, and no matter what, he'd somehow know the exact right day to sell, the exact right day to buy from companies that were just starting up. Mom, well, old money. She inherited a lot from my great grandfather, more than, I'd care to mention." She took a deep breath. "And they're rich, stuck up, and a little snobby… Elitist like you'd never believe…" She sighed. "And that means they have high expectations, but since I want public schooling, and a job at the DGA… They've been, supportive, but they keep telling me to hire on security guys with Digimon, and I keep saying we're okay."

"What about the flower shop?" Arthur asked.

"Mom owns it, loves flowers." She said. "She figured, give her daughter a job so she can 'learn about blue collar life'." I laughed.

"Sounds like they want you to learn to be like them." I said. She laughed quietly.

"Yeah, I guess, they do." She said, sighing. "Anyway, we, live in this, big house, n-not too far from here."

"Annabelle, Summers…" Sarah said slowly. "Wait…"

"Yes, that's right." She said tiredly. "Victor and Cassandra Summers are my parents." Sarah smiled.

"I thought I recognized your hair." She said. "That blue really stands out." Annabelle blushed.

"I just…" She started. "Uh, Riley?" We looked as Riley's head rose.

"Hmmm?" She asked sleepily. "What? Battle time?" She yawned quietly and Sarah got up.

"Okay, I think you've been up long enough." She said. "Time for bed." She helped Riley up while we all stretched.

"Yes, I think, it has been long enough for us all." Percy said. "We'll dry off, and call it a night, oui?"

"Sounds good t' me…" Riley said tiredly. Harrigan stretched as he got up. "C'mon Harry, time for bed." Sarah picked Riley up as I got out of the water, and Sarah laughed.

"What?" I asked.

"Didn't think you'd be wearing swim trunks." She said. I looked down.

"Well, up until twenty years ago, Digimon didn't have genders." I said. "Some of us have ways of hiding it, like a lot of fur, or a pouch… Stuff like that." She and Annabelle looked at Scott, who was silent.

"What?" He asked warily. They stared and he cleared his throat. "In this form, there is a reason I choose to wear pants instead of just the cloth." Everyone laughed before looking at Daisy.

"No comment." She said as she got up. I laughed as she walked away.  
>…<p>

I yawned as I got up, and I smelled tea. I looked to see a cup sitting on a saucer next to me, and the door closed. Likely Franklin wanted to wake me up quietly. I moved carefully and dropped to the ground silently, turning and picking up the saucer. I took the cup as I heard Scott getting up.

"Tea?" He asked quietly. I sniffed it as he looked over, putting his helmet on.

"Lemongrass." I said. I turned as he picked up a saucer, inhaling quietly as Arthur slowly got up.

"Chamomile?" Arthur asked.

"Yes." Scott said. I held my cup up.

"Cheers." I said. Arthur slowly picked up his cup of coffee, raising it.

"Prost." He said.

"Santé." Scott said. We drank our tea as Arthur drank the whole cup of coffee in one go, and he set it down, making an odd sound. "Not the brand you hoped for?" Arthur was silent.

"Tastes, strange…" He said. "No cream or sugar, no milk… Just, straight, coffee… I can't place what kind."

"This is a good cuppa lemongrass, I'll say that." I said. "Never had any this, flavorful before."

"Nor have I." Scott said. He finished his and looked around. "Do we, take these with us to the kitchen? Or, do we just, leave them?"

"Uh, no idea." Arthur said.

"Take them with us to the kitchen." I said. "I asked Franklin and he said we don't have to, but it would be appreciated by the cleaning staff." I finished my tea and stretched. "So uh, get dressed, and we'll go down."

"You too." Arthur said. "If I can fit my wings, you can fit your tail." I sighed and walked over to my jacket, which was, pressed, and on a small hook on the end of the hammock frame.

"Uh, Scott, Arthur, are your jackets pressed and hanging on something?" I asked. They looked as I looked over my shoulder.

"Uh, yeah." Arthur said.

"As is, mine…" Scott said. "And, my shoes are, clean. _My_ shoes, and the ones they had me change into."

"Uh, how about your pants?" Arthur asked. "Because my normal clothes are clean, pressed and…" He sniffed. "Starched. I've _never_ had clothing starched before." I slowly took my jacket down and sniffed it.

"My jacket's starched, too…" I said. I pulled it on carefully and checked, and sure enough, my uniform from the temple was clean, pressed, and starched. "Arthur, my uniform is cleaner than when it was made." He laughed as I checked my belt. "The belt is polished and oiled, and both Baffles are…" I sniffed. "Maintained…" I sniffed again. "Using high quality gun oil… And it's not a two part that needs to be mixed, which you know I hate because it separates in the can."

"It's official Mao, once every five days, we're living like kings." He said. Scott laughed.

"I have never had my pants cleaned before." Scott said. "Mostly due to not being in this form long enough to require it. But… It's, quite nice."


	16. Another Surprise, Stargazing Digimon

**When we last left our intrepid heroes, we learned of Sarah's past, and a little of the others. In this exciting chapter, well, tune in and find out… And with that out of the way, the OCs Krieger and Botan were created by deathsonic, and I get the feeling we'll see them down the road somewhere. Enjoy.**

**Disclaimer: I, Lord Genesis Shadow, do hereby state that I do not own the rights to Digimon. Thank you, and have a nice day.  
>…<strong>

"Hey, Mao." Riley said. I looked at her. "How do you feel right now?" I shrugged after a second.

"Alright." I said. "Nothing, too good, nothing bad… Maybe a little hungry." She laughed.

"I mean, about the whole, two days living it up like this." She said. "Come on, we spend the afternoon and morning at a mansion, eating… Uh, food like this." I laughed quietly. "And getting these clothes? This is the best outfit I've ever had, and it's in my favorite colors!" I smiled as we looked out at the van as it was brought around while the others said their goodbyes to Sarah's parents. "Don't tell me you don't think all of this is cool."

"It's nothing short of awesome." I said. "But, you know, I'm used to a simpler life, and I'm just getting used to _that_. I lived in the Dark Area. It's, dark all day, cold all year round unless you live near a volcano, and there's danger behind every leaf on every tree. You have to be careful just walking up to a meat tree." She looked at me.

"Meat tree?" She asked. "So, Harry wasn't joking about that." I laughed.

"Hey, I'm still confused why it's not like that here." I said. "But, whatever. Fruit's just as good… You know, if that's your main diet." She laughed. "But, you know, I'm here now. Warm days, varied weather that isn't always sleet and hail or, the odd tornado. Seriously, three days after I got here, hot rain." She giggled. "When you go from holding a plank made out of bark you just ripped off of a tree to block tiny balls of ice or ice cold rain to wondering if it's some kind of human technology that turned outside into one big shower, that's the most amazing thing you've seen up to that point."

"I love hot rain." She said. "It's like, Ma Nature's saying 'get ready to make tea'." We both laughed as the van stopped and the others walked over. "So, where do we go today?"

"I was thinking about that." Ann said. "My house is, closest. We could spend a day there, or, at least morning, and then come back in the afternoon for dinner after doing stuff in town."

"I had an idea about that." Percy said. "I think if we spend most of our time together doing anything, that's good, but we could find a place where we can, how you say, spar. We would all get stronger, but we would also be able to practice what we have learned from the temple. Speaking of, we should go back if we have the time." We all nodded as we walked up to the van. "I've also looked into a bigger vehicle, or possibly a second one. Ten seated in one van wouldn't be comfortable at best, let alone that one of our friends is a fourteen foot tall cactus, and one has six wings."

"Yeah, it was made for, at best, a family of six." Arthur said. "It's just good luck that some of us are small enough that we just fit, with Percy sitting in the back." Percy laughed as he opened the door.  
>…<p>

I adjusted the jacket slightly as we walked into the dining room, where Annabelle's parents were having brunch. As Daisy managed to sidle through the door, the parents looked up.

"Thank you for meeting us here." Her mother said. "I'm grateful for the chance to see our daughter's, friends." We stopped as the father stood up and gestured to the seats, though he looked at Daisy. "Oh dear, Daisy, what _has_ happened to you? I hadn't heard of any battles recently."

"It was a natural Digivolution, mother." Annabelle said carefully. "She's like this, well, for life now, or, until she reaches her next stage, naturally. But, hopefully she'll be able to reach her, next form… Which is actually around the size of a normal human, l-like Scott…" They looked at all of us for a moment. "Er, the, six winged, angel."

"I see." Her father said. "Well, I believe introductions are in order. I am Victor Summers, and this is my lovely wife Cassandra." Annabelle stepped forward slightly. She wanted to introduce us to make sure we didn't do something that would make her parents not like us, at least not until after we were asked to speak.

"This is…" She started.

"Now, I believe they have mouths for a reason, dear Annabelle." Cassandra said. "I know you mean well, but I believe it proper for them to introduce themselves." Annabelle seemed worried, but I stepped forward, bowing politely.

"I am Mao." I said. "It is nice to make your acquaintances." As I stood, Victor seemed somewhat pleased. "I may be a subtype of Impmon, but I limit my practical jokes and general hijinks to places where they are more appropriate."

"For which we will be quite grateful." Cassandra said. "It is quite nice to meet you." Arthur slowly stepped forward, also bowing.

"I'm Arthur Rowe." He said. "I'm Mao's Tamer, so, if he _does_ cause any trouble, I'll be sure to, reprimand him appropriately." The others introduced themselves as best they could, save for Harrigan, who was introduced by Riley, and she made sure to explain his silence.

"As I understand, you have all been on very good behavior thus far." Victor said. "While we are grateful for this, we would like you to try to make sure she adheres to her training."

"Her, training?" Arthur asked.

"Yes." Cassandra said. "She is training to be a lady, and while she works at a flower shop, or worked at one before taking a job at your agency, she was to remember her lessons and practice them regularly. One must maintain high standards to be properly respected in today's world, especially women."

"Mom…" Annabelle said under her breath.

"She has been quite careful to maintain an air of elegance at all times." I said. I knew the others were likely confused, since she had acted pretty much like any person that lived in our neighborhood, but I knew Annabelle didn't want to disappoint her parents. "She tries not to put on airs, and manages to act dignified, but not stuck up. It's, nothing short of inspiring, to be perfectly honest."

"I am quite pleased to hear that." Victor said. "I am sorry our visit could not last longer, since you are to continue your training. It may be a, less than safe vocation, and the odds that it may lead to many an awkward dinner with our friends, it is Annabelle's choice, and we will support her." Annabelle smiled a little. "Rest assured that when you are our guests, you are welcome with open arms. It is not our way to be unkind to friends of the family."

"You must excuse us." Cassandra said. "We have several meetings." They bowed and walked out while we went back to the foyer. As we looked at each other, Annabelle knelt and hugged me, which surprised me greatly.

"Thank you for saying that." She said. "It was very sweet of you." I slowly patted her back before she stood up.

"It's not my way to not help a friend." I said. She laughed quietly into her hand.

"They actually wanted me to be, well, stuffy, and put on airs…" She said. "That's how the teachers want me to act, anyway. I just completely blow off those lessons when I leave the house, but I really do pay attention to them." She cleared her throat. "I was, just a little worried."

"Well, now that, we know about that, we'll make sure to follow Mao's example." Percy said. "Right, everyone?"

"Yeah." Riley said. Harrigan nodded.

"You can count on me." Sarah said.

"Me too." Lena said.

"I've got your back." Arthur said.

"I don't like lying, but, you pay attention, so you're not _really_ lying." Scott said calmly.

"Thanks, everyone." Annabelle said, smiling. She gestured to the door. "So uh, there's a good place to spar, in the back yard. Dad, let Daisy train back there with a few, paid Tamers." We all nodded and agreed, so she walked toward the door and led us out, and as we got further out, I had to voice a thought.

"There are quite a few, really nice, um, hedges…" I said. She laughed.

"W-well, mom, has a hobby." She said. "She, has the gardeners do that, from time to time." We kept walking when she sighed, gesturing. "That's, my favorite." We looked over and I heard Sarah laugh.

"Is that a Lilymon?" She asked.

"One of the gardeners' daughters had a Palmon that, reached Ultimate." Annabelle said. "Mom, saw a picture one day while he was, showing the picture to his friends, so… She asked him to make the hedge over here look like the Lilymon. He's a permanent gardener now because, mom figures, when Daisy reaches Ultimate, she'll have a fellow Lilymon to talk to." When we got to the back, I heard a laugh. We looked over as a man walked off of a stone walkway. "Oh, h-hello. Are you…"

"Your new trainer for battling…" He said. He looked at the rest of us. "I guess I'm not the only one?" She shook her head quickly.

"No, no, these, are my friends." She said. She gestured and he pointed.

"That's Arthur Rowe." He said.

"H-how do you know my name?" Arthur asked. The man laughed.

"Saw you on the news a few weeks back." He said. "I asked the police for your name and they gave it. Found out you work for the DGA, though I didn't check recently. Sorry for not recognizing you and Mr. Canterbury sooner."

"It is not a problem." Percy said. "After all, freedom to access information is nothing to cause need for an apology. Though I am curious as to why you would look for his name."

"Because of Mao, actually." He said. "A Rookie that can kill a Champion is a rare thing if you don't know what you're doing."

"Well, it's just a matter of…" I started.

"Overcharging your special attacks and doing so from the maximum effective range." A female said. I looked over at a fountain with the others to see a Renamon with black fur. I just shrugged.

"Or having a powerful revolver and aiming for soft spots in the skull of a target." I said. "Easy enough, if you get that one little moment you need." The man laughed as she walked over.

"My name is Krieger." He said. "Irony, when you think that _she_ does the fighting." I laughed, as did Harrigan, Daisy, Scott, and Lena.

"Uh, well, if you speak the, language your name is in." Riley said.

"His name means 'warrior' in German." Lena said.

"Yes, and this is Botan." He said. "Now, I'm sure some of you are concerned, seeing as she's a rare 'Black' Digimon, but I promise, the worst she gets is a little moody after a rough night." She just crossed her arms as she stood next to him. "I was just here to lend a hand, but, I get the feeling you're all about to do some sparring with each other."

"W-well, if my parents want you to help, I, I think we could use the numbers." Annabelle said. "I mean, five teams, we could use, two matches to rest, so, it'd be a little lopsided."

"Well then, who's first?" Botan asked. "I've been a little eager for a good match, regardless of my form."

"Uh, how about us?" Arthur suggested. "You want a good fight, and Mao doesn't need his revolver to be a powerhouse." The others agreed as we started walking toward an open area, and Botan stopped as I looked at my outfit, but shrugged before taking a stance, to which Botan laughed.

"As strong as you are, I doubt I'll break a sweat." She said.

"If you need to go Kyuubimon, I'll give you a few seconds to catch your breath." I said smugly. "Arthur, hit the button."

"The, button." Krieger said. "You can Digivolve?"

"Nope." I said. Arthur scanned Botan as she started running, and when she went to strike me with her claws, I jumped up and kicked her chest with both feet, pushing her back a fair distance. She seemed surprised as I ran at her, jumping and avoiding her kick, and I jumped off of her back, pushing her away again. Spinning, I turned and took a basic fisticuff stance. "Sweating yet?"

"It takes more than that to make me _pant_." She said quietly.

"I'll vouch for that!" Krieger called. She ran at me and faked a punch, but I jumped over her kick just in time for her go grab my throat. "Hey, are we allowed to use attacks on low power, or is this just one on one the old fashioned way? I think Mao might need a fireball or two to get free."

"Mao?" Arthur called.

"I'm good!" I called. I kicked her arm and she dropped me, so I rushed her, jumping and hitting her in the stomach with my head. She fell back, and I heard the others wince from the distance she staggered as I readied myself again.

"Not, not bad…" She said, coughing. "I half thought that revolver was the only thing you could fight with."

"I watch a lot of action movies." I said. "We took a few days to train at a Kung Fu temple, might head back later to try to learn how to fight better. If you want, go ahead and use your moves. I'll just follow your lead."

"Fine." She said quietly. She suddenly vanished in dark smoke, so I grinned, dodging the kick by using her own technique against her. I landed a few feet away, dusting my shoulders off. "W-what kind of… That was _my technique!_"

"How the heck did he do that?" Krieger called. "I've never seen any Impmon teleport before."

"The button activated a scanner, and the Optimizer, this…" Arthur called. "Augments his base code to give him a wider range of moves. It's not just bullets, fireballs, ropes, and fences. He can copy most moves if his body can somehow do it! In this case, it's energy, so it's easy! Right, Mao?"

"Eh, a little tough to use this one, but I'll make it work." I said. "I meant to land about three feet to the right. Give me three more teleports and I should have it down to a science." She suddenly held her hands in front of her.

"Well, if you're so confident." She said. A bunch of black crystals formed and began flying. "Jet Squall!" I teleported behind her, where she kicked, but I teleported again, holding my hands up in time with her. "Jet Squall!"

"Amethyst Buckshot!" I called. I formed a bunch of purple crystals to match hers, and they flew at the same time, hitting and forming blackish purple smoke between us, though I formed a portal in the ground. She teleported and ran at me, and fell partly in, grabbing the ground. "Infernal Funnel. Most say it just pulls out rocks, or fireballs, or ice, but I like using the pocket dimension within it as a trap in and of itself." I pointed my finger at her as she went to reach at me, and a fireball formed at the tip.

"Alright, that's enough." Krieger said, laughing. "We haven't been beaten in a long time. You're better than I thought you'd be, Mao." I let the ball go and held my hand out, and she reluctantly took it, letting me help her out of the portal. As it closed, she looked at me, but smiled somewhat.

"Not bad." She said.

"I blame Arthur's collection of movies." I said. She laughed softly as we walked over to the others, and Arthur put his hand on my head. "He has a lot of Jet Lee, Jackie Chan, and Chuck Norris films."  
>…<p>

"Hey." Daisy said. I looked over as she walked up to where I was sitting. She sat down, so I climbed up on her offered glove, laughing quietly. "Good fight. She was tough."

"Yeah, she was." I said. "But, I haven't fought Renamon before. I've always wanted to. I'm glad I watch so many movies now." She laughed. "I'm glad you held back against Lena."

"Small." She said. "Like you." I flexed my arms.

"I may be small, but my muscles pack more punch than you'd think." I said. She laughed a little louder before sighing.

"Why are you out here?" She asked. "It's night." I looked up at the full moon.

"I don't tell Arthur this, but I like being outside on these nights." I said. "The full moon just, puts me at ease. Kind of, anyway. I get restless, so I spend part of the night staring up at it, just, thinking about nothing."

"Me too." She said. "Bright." I laughed. "Thinking about Digivolving?" I nodded.

"Yeah." I said. "She said it would happen fairly soon. Hard to say just what that means though. I mean, you and the others Digivolved a lot faster than me, and if there's one thing I've noticed, it's that you never know when it's going to happen."

"The light shines when the time is right." She said. I looked at her. "Something my mom used to say, when I was little."

"As a Tanemon?" I asked. She nodded as we looked up again. "What's it like, having parents?" She was silent. "I always wondered. Sometimes I saw a family of Digimon. A mother and father, a Fresh or In Training with them… It looked nice. Like they didn't need anything to be happy but each other."

"Sometimes…" She said. "Mom wanted me to be, different. Dad wanted me to be, girly… I wanted a friend, but they always said no."

"Just, being protective?" I asked.

"Found a portal, left before anyone could stop me." She said. "Must have closed after me… Something felt strange, before."

"Well, portals feel strange when they open." I said quietly. She nodded as I stared up at the moon before pointing. "Orion's Belt is brighter than usual, isn't it?" She turned slightly, but nodded again. "And look, Ursa Major's not taking that lying down." She laughed quietly. "I bet that's a cosmic fight waiting to happen. Epic won't even _start_ to describe that throwdown." She laughed a little more as I smiled.

"So, we weren't the only ones restless, it seems." Scott said. I looked as he and Lena walked over, with Harrigan in tow. They walked over and sat down, on Daisy's gloves. "And here I thought it was just something _I_ did."

"I think it's something most Digimon probably do." I said. "The full moon comes out, and something just feels, different. Like we have to see it for a while."

"Yeah, that's how I always felt." Lena said. "I thought it was part of being a dog, or a cat. Angels, imps, cacti, and fencers do it too." We all laughed as Harrigan pointed his shinai at the moon. "What is it?" I leaned over and looked down the weapon for a moment.

"The man in the moon." I said, leaning back.

"Huh?" Lena asked. I pointed.

"There's, shadows or craters that kind of make a face." I said. "Mara was up late one night and saw me looking through the kitchen window at the moon and she pointed it out. Up until that night, I'd just stared at it, but I kind of like looking at stuff like that now. Stars, shapes… Hard to say whether or not it's just data in a natural way." They all nodded. "Maybe not digital, but, I think there's more to it than we know." We were all silent for a while, just watching the few clouds that were still out.

"You know, this is a good way to bond." Scott said quietly. "Something we can all do, even if it is just once a month, give or take."


	17. A Long Morning, Confusing News

**A talkie, but you need that sort of thing to make a good story, to care about the characters. Other than that, not much for me to say here for once.**

**Disclaimer: I, Lord Genesis Shadow, do hereby state that I do not own the rights to Digimon. Thank you, and have a nice day.  
>…<strong>

"Hey, get up." Arthur said. "Geeze, every month, there's one day where you just don't wake up until I make you." I rolled out of the bed and fell onto the floor, making him and Scott laugh. After a few seconds I rolled under the bed and he looked under it at me. "Come on, Mao, we've got to go visit Riley's today."

"Tired…" I said quietly. "Need, sleep." He reached under but couldn't grab me, so I closed my eyes.

"Scott, can you push him out with your staff and a pillow?" He asked.

"If I can manage it." Scott said. "I'm not exactly totally awake, myself…" He yawned and after a few moments I felt something pushing me, and when I was in the open, Arthur picked me up and put me on my feet. "Come now, if I have to wake up, so do you. No special treatment, remember?" I groaned quietly and walked over to my belt and pulled it on. As I went to walk back, Arthur picked me up.

"Come on, sleepy." He said. "We're going." I kept moving my feet and they both laughed as he carried me to the stairs, setting me down to let me walk on my own. When I got to the bottom, someone else picked me up.

"Oi, you look positively knackered, shorty." Sarah said. "Out watchin' the full moon or somethin'?"

"More or less…" I said tiredly, my feet still moving. She laughed.

"Like a little windup toy, eh?" She asked. "Switch off already, or you'll walk clear to Australia when I set ya down." The others laughed as I stopped, so she set me down. I stood for a moment before stretching as the others walked over.

"I've already said my farewells to my parents." Annabelle said. "We should get going, right, Riley?"

"I guess…" She said quietly.

"What's wrong?" Arthur asked. "Worried your parents won't like us?"

"I know they won't…" She said. She walked out the door so we all followed. When we got to the front, however, there was a large limousine waiting, big enough for Daisy to fit inside. "W-what's this?"

"Oh, this is, well, the family car…" Annabelle said. "We can use this until, Daisy reaches a, um, more manageable size."

"I, don't think I can drive that." Arthur said. "S-Sarah?"

"Nah, 's got a driver, don't it?" She said. "We get in, give an address over the intercom, they take us there. Right?"

"Y-yes." Annabelle said. I walked down the steps and looked up at it. I reached up toward the side skirt and found it was just beyond my reach. The others laughed as I jumped and climbed up, sitting on the side.

"Well, one thing's for sure, it's not built for Lena, Harrigan, Riley, and me." I said. They walked over and I stood up, jumping and opening the door. As it swung open, I leaned down as Harrigan reached up. The others got in through other doors as I helped him in, followed by Riley. As I stepped in, I saw that it was almost big enough to be a home. "This, is _huge_."

"Yes, it's, well, it was meant for Daisy's current form, in advance." Annabelle said quietly. "We knew she'd grow to be, well, big. It's actually more of a bus, but, it's classified, as a limo…" I jumped onto a seat and a small hatch opened. I looked in to see various beverages and snacks. "It's, stocked with anything a, well off family would have…" I reached in and pulled something out that I didn't recognize.

"What's that, Mao?" Riley asked.

"I have no clue…" I said.

"Oh, th-that's a, Swedish gourmet chocolate." Annabelle said quickly. "I wouldn't eat that if I were you… It, it's got, alcohol in it. A, a lot, to be honest. Brandy, I think." I sniffed it a few times before looking.

"Well, I've already touched it." I said. "I'm sure your parents wouldn't want me to just put it back _now_." She sighed as Percy held his hand out.

"May I?" He asked. I put it in his palm and he looked it over before putting it in his mouth, and his eyebrows rose. "It's not bad… A little strong, but, good for after dinner, I expect…" He seemed surprised. "Two kinds of brandy?"

"Y-yes…" Annabelle said. I looked in again before closing the hatch.

"Is there anything, uh, the rest of us can eat?" Arthur asked. "Without getting, uh…"

"Without getting completely pissed?" Sarah finished. Riley giggled as Annabelle sighed. She looked around before opening a small fridge and looking around.

"We're in my parents' section." She said. "I think we should go about, eight rows forward." I jumped down and we all walked, though Percy laughed.

"This is possibly the best chocolate I've ever had." He said. "It lingers on the tongue, and the two types of brandy work together with the chocolate _and_ each other."

"You know a little about brandy?" I asked.

"I have been to tastings with some of my family and very close family friends." He said. We all looked at him. "Well, we are, okay… My father is an accountant of some skill, and my mother is a lawyer of some renown. While we are not quite _this_ well off, we live fairly comfortably." We sat down and another hatch opened by me, but not by the others.

"Why is it the others don't do that?" Sarah asked. "I sat down, nothin'. What's the deal?" I looked in.

"Mao's a Virus." Scott said. "I'd guess that he's opening them by thought, or, by accident."

"The latter is my guess…" I said. "I've never seen a sandwich this small before." I pulled out a small thing of sandwiches. "Did they quarter these?"

"That's how my mother prefers them…" Annabelle said. "Apparently they're easier to eat. Finger sandwiches…" I pulled one out and looked at it before just eating it whole. "Um, those are…" I looked at the rest of them. "Arugula…" I swallowed it and closed the bag, putting it away as they laughed.

"And cucumber." I said. "I can deal with cucumber, but, something's either bad with the arugula or it just isn't for me."

"Mom doesn't care for it." Arthur said as he opened a panel by him. "So uh, Riley, where is your house?" She sighed quietly and shakily pressed a button as I looked over.

"Destination, young miss?" The driver asked. He had a fairly posh accent, and the image of a fairly aged man with white hair and a mustache appeared in my mind. Riley spoke quietly into the speaker for a few seconds. "At once. I estimate thirty four minutes, forty at the most, if traffic is unfavorable." The line went quiet as we looked at her.

"Uh, just…" She started. "You'll see." She went to a small panel and looked in as I went back to mine.

"Hey, chips." I said quietly. I pulled a plastic bag out and looked at it. "What are these?"

"Specially made, um, kumquat chips…" Annabelle said. We all looked around.

"Any chance we can stop by a McDonald's on the way?" Arthur asked. We all laughed as the intercom came on.

"Consider it our first stop." The driver said. We all continued laughing as the limo turned.  
>…<p>

"So, these're your friends." Riley's mother said. I couldn't help but think of the wicked witch's theme from The Wizard of Oz whenever I looked at her, and I was half expecting her to start cackling while flying monkeys came out of the various half open doors all around. The moment we came in, she had been swearing very loudly, apparently cussing out her husband. Then she yelled at Riley before lighting a cigarette just prior to spotting the rest of us. "Figured you'd be by a little later." Riley looked down, shaking slightly. "Let me guess who's who here… Short purple one's Mao, right? Got the guns… You, Mr. Mountain, have got to be Percy… What's eh, what's the rest of the names…"

"I'm Arthur, ma'am." He said calmly. She nodded.

"Marine's boy." She said. He nodded shakily. "Figured. Got the look about ya. Tougher than most, got manners… Riley's real dad's a marine, died after she was born stoppin' some jackass tryin' to rob a bank." Riley was silent, so I walked up to her as her mother spoke to the rest. I took her hand lightly and she looked at me as I started walking her to the side door. She followed, and let go as we got to the step. She sat down and seemed about ready to cry.

"I'm sorry." She said. "Mom, doesn't like visitors much. This, is as nice as she's been in years… Probably 'cause of Sarah and Ann."

"Could be worse." I said. "She could have hid the BS until we started leaving, and then find a way to keep us here." She laughed quietly. The house was a mess, with half eaten food on the floor, stains that reeked of liquor, and more than a few piles of cigarette butts, half smoked cigarettes, and ash all over the place. I was genuinely surprised there weren't small fires all over as well. "So uh, I guess this'll be our one time over here, if just to make sure she doesn't have to keep up the act?" She nodded.

"I, I'd prefer that, a lot." She said. I patted her shoulder lightly. "She'd prefer it, t-to save on, groceries…" Harrigan walked over and sat in perfect time with me, and she looked at me. "Mao, d-do you think I'm, weak?" I shook my head.

"No, I don't." I said. I looked over my shoulder as the others were trying to speak, but her mother was just holding the whole conversation on her own. "Living with that old dragon, you're a lot stronger than, well, the rest of us." I looked to see her looking at the ground, so I put my hand on her shoulder. "Hey, for real." She looked at me. "Worst I had to deal with was finding food, you know, meat trees. It was 'where's the nearest meat tree', or the occasional 'what's that huge thing running at me, oh, it's a Monochromon, I'd better climb up that meat tree'." She laughed. "Your mom? Way worse. You can run all you want, but it's there, like… A hat you forget to take off because it's so comfortable you think it's part of your head." She laughed some more, looking at her shoes.

"Thanks." She said quietly. We were silent for a little while. "Six more years, a-and I can leave… She doesn't know that they're paying yet, s-so I can put some money away."

"And Harrigan can help with that." I said. He nodded. "That'll put you ahead a little faster."

"I just, have to make sure, we live that long…" She said. "Once she knows, she'll, try to make me pay for stuff, or, or she'll steal it if she can find the, account numbers…"

"Well…" I started.

"I can't run away." She said. "I'm too young, and, I don't know my family. No one could take me in… And the police would always bring me back here…"

"From now on, though, if we keep up the rotation…" I said. She looked at me. "You'll be here, what, once a week to get your schoolwork." She was silent for a moment.

"Y-yeah…" She said, somewhat hopefully.

"And, if you want, you could stay at headquarters." I said. "We'd drop you off when you wanted us to." She laughed quietly. "And, Mara doesn't mind company… Heck, she likes having visitors, especially Arthur's friends." She smiled as I looked back, and her mother was dragging the others, save for Daisy, into the kitchen. She was in the front yard, though by the sound of her footsteps, she was moving. We looked over as she walked around and saw us, so she walked over and sat by us. "Hey."

"Glad I'm big." She said. "Bigger, than that door." We laughed.

"Lucky you." I said. "How bad is it in there?"

"Ba-a-ad…" She said, drawing the word out.

"She's, cussing again." Riley said. "A lot."

"Yeah…" Daisy said. "A _lot_."

"Smoking, probably blowing it in their faces." Riley said.

"And at me." Daisy said. "And Mao."

"And here I thought she liked me." I said. "I mean, she actually bothered to remember my name." Riley sighed.

"I wish I was Arthur's sister." She said. "Nice mom, probably a nice dad… A cute baby sister… _Food_."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"M-mom, doesn't cook." She said. "She buys, some food, and, beer… Doesn't pay the water bill, s-so we, drink at the water fountains we can find. At the park, mostly, and Harry has a straw…" I made a fist where they couldn't see.

"Your dad?" Daisy asked.

"Never here." Riley said. "R-real dad's, dead, step dad… H-he's really creepy… Keeps saying stuff like, how he can't wait for me to, grow up and, f-fill out… I don't want to know what that means."

"How about, I drop by that once a week?" I offered. They looked at me. "That way, you don't deal with either of them. Send some cash with me once in a while, they let you keep the job, and you don't have to put up with them, ever again." She smiled a little.

"Good idea." Daisy said. Riley nodded, but she looked up a little as we did. "Bio-Emergence."

"No, it feels, different." I said. "Like, focused."

"From a computer?" Riley suggested. I looked at her and she seemed surprised. "What? Harry and I are, you know, really connected. My hair stands up when it happens." I nodded and looked over my shoulder.

"Mine would too." I said. "If I had hair." We turned to the house and got up as the others started leaving, quickly.

"You feel that?" Annabelle asked.

"Feel what?" Riley's mother called.

"An Emergence!" I called. "We're off duty, but we should still check it out just in case."

"Keep the kid safe!" She yelled. "Or I'll kick your Tamer's ass!"  
>…<p>

We walked in as a teen stood up, clutching a Wormmon to her chest protectively, as though we were going to hurt them. The digital worm shook slightly, obviously fearful, and Arthur looked at Percy.

"So, what's the plan?" He asked quietly. Percy looked through the handbook for a moment before tucking it away.

"Miss, might I ask your name?" He asked kindly. She turned away a little. "Do not worry, we aren't here to separate you from your new friend." He gestured to us. "This is more or less how we met our friends, save for Daisy, a Togemon outside. Daisy somehow ended up in a flower shop, probably from a computer on a table when she was a Rookie. We just need to report to our boss about this. We just need your name, a picture of you and your friend, and an address, and we can send you your Tamer ID card." She slowly turned back and I looked up, grabbing Arthur's phone.

"Hey." He said.

"I can handle this." I said. I walked over and jumped up onto the table near her as she watched me. I held my hand out to her. "I'm Mao." She slowly took my hand.

"C-Casey, River." She said shakily.

"Nice to meet you Miss River." I said. "If the boss says you two can stay together, then that's the truth. He wouldn't lie, especially if he knows for a fact from the handbook." She slowly set the Wormmon down, so I turned to him. "Do you have a name?"

"No, not yet…" He said. Casey slowly put her hand on his head.

"Um, Jim." She suggested. He looked at her and wagged his tail end from side to side.

"Jim…" He repeated. "I like that. It sounds friendly." He turned to me. "I'm Jim. It's nice to meet you, Mao." He lowered his body, facing the desk, so I bowed.

"It's nice to meet you, Jim." I said.

"S-so it's, just, a picture?" Casey asked. I nodded as I stood up.

"Just a quick picture of you both, an address, and you'll get the card in the mail." I said. "I don't know when, but, you'll probably get a letter and a temporary ID, and, you might be able to go right to headquarters to pick it up." She nodded slowly and stepped back a little as I readied the phone. "Okay, just hold that pose… Maybe, smile a little?" She laughed with the others and smiled, so I took the picture. I turned it to her and she looked at it.

"Thank you." She said. I turned it back as Jim stood up a little, so I took a picture of him. I turned it to him as he looked at it.

"Thank you." He said. "I'm glad there are such nice people and Digimon here. The Dark Area is very scary lately. Tamers and Digimon running around, calling themselves an army." I lowered the phone.

"Tamers?" I asked. He nodded.

"We've recently been warned of an army of Tamers in the Digital World." Percy said. "Did you hear any names?" Jim shook his head.

"No, I was warned that it was a bad idea to be near them." He said. "Is it really bad news?"

"Well, kind of." I said. "But, don't worry. You're here, and they're back there. If they do come here, get to safety and hang tight for the DGA. But I doubt they will anytime soon." They seemed worried, so I just put the phone in my belt. "If you see them…" I pulled a card out of my belt. "Call one of these numbers." I gave her the card and she looked at it. "Tell us, or whoever they transfer you to, where you are, and we'll be there, quick as we can. And with Arthur's driving, believe me, you'll barely have ended the call." She laughed and picked Jim up again, holding him in a light hug.

"Thank you." She said. "I was, kind of worried."

"Well, just don't cause any trouble." Arthur said. "We _do_ have to send bad Digimon back, one way or another. Jim seems really nice, so, sending him back to the Digital World is the last thing we want to do." They both laughed as I jumped down and walked over to him, handing him the phone. "Thanks buddy."


	18. Meeting Mr Rowe, a Talk With an Angel

**It's been a few months so it's about time I brought this back up. I hope you all enjoy it.**

**Disclaimer: I, Lord Genesis Shadow, do hereby state that I do not own the rights to Digimon.  
>…<strong>

Arthur sighed as the limo pulled up in front of our house, and he laughed.

"What's up, Yank?" Sarah asked.

"My mother is going to _flip_ when she sees _this_." He said. "I mean, it's almost as tall as my house, for crying out loud." We all laughed as I began opening the door.

"Well let's…" I started.

"Arthur, your mother drives a minivan, oui?" Percy asked quietly.

"Uh, yeah." Arthur said slowly. "Why?"

"Does she have a friend that drives a truck?" Percy asked. I pushed the door open to see a black Ford pickup with an extended cab sitting in the driveway beside the minivan.

"N-no, she doesn't…" He said. "I…" He opened his door and walked out. "W-wait here for, two seconds… I'll be right back. And Mao, I mean a few minutes." I sat on the step as he jogged up to the door and opened it.

"Mao?" Percy asked. "Do you know what this is about?"

"Not a clue." I said. "Arthur never mentioned anything, and I don't remember Mara ever having company in a black Ford truck." After a few minutes, we were all outside of the limo, and the driver had rolled down the passenger side window, decidedly curious.

"H-hey, Mao, come here, please." Arthur called. I looked at the others as I slid down, and I walked toward the door. As I walked in, I looked in the kitchen to see Arthur sitting at a table, and a man that looked much like him, but twenty years older, with darker eyes and graying hair.

"So, you're the mysterious helper I've heard so much about." He said. I nodded and he smiled, gesturing. "Come on in. I've wanted to meet my boy's first friend for a long time now." I slowly walked in and he held his hand out, so I took it. "I'm Henry Rowe."

"Mao." I said. He shook my hand, and I smiled a little.

"I understand you made it possible for Arthur to get a decent job." He said. "An agent, in a federal position."

"Well, not quite, federal, is it?" Arthur asked.

"From what I understand, it's a federal job." His father said, looking at him. "You're officially a government employee." He slugged Arthur's shoulder lightly. "I'm proud of you for that." Arthur laughed quietly. "And you've got some good friends, I hear." I pointed over my shoulder with my thumb.

"They're waiting in the, uh, car…" I said. Mr. Rowe stood up carefully, and I saw that he had gauze wrapped around his right leg. Mara helped him, and Arthur stood up. "What happened?"

"Well, I decided to play chicken with a bullet." He said. "Turns out, bullets win. But…" He pulled out a small nearly immaculate bullet from his pocket. "They make good souvenirs." I laughed as he walked past me. "What say we get acquainted to your friends?"

"Uh, yeah, I'm sure they'll like that…" Arthur said. "But um, it's not so much a car, as it is… A limousine."

"A limousine?" Mara asked. "The agency clearly spares no expense."

"It, belongs to, Ann's parents." He said. "It's kind of a long story, and I think I'll need her help." We walked out, and Henry whistled.

"Is it a limo, or a home on wheels?" He asked. We laughed as he gestured. "Morning. You must be Arthur's friends." They slowly walked over, and Percy was the first to offer his hand. "I'm Henry Rowe." He took Percy's hand. "You can all call me Hank."

"I am Percival Canterbury, but please, call me Percy." He said, smiling. "I was wondering if we'd ever get to meet the elusive Mr. Rowe. It's an honor, sir." Hank smiled while Arthur sat on the step next to me. Hank offered his hand to Scott, who took it with a small smile of his own.

"My name is Scott." He said. "Not many nicknames are associated with that, however." They both laughed. "Your son is quite a remarkable young man. Quite capable."

"Aren't you about the same age as Arthur?" I asked. He laughed, as did Percy.

"You are merely a year older than him." He said. "Not much room to talk." We all laughed as Hank held his hand out to Sarah, who took it with a little more energy.

"I'm Sarah Valentine." She said. "Your boy's quite the scrapper."

"Oh?" Hank asked.

"We met up at the temple by the mountain." She said. "We were all trainin' up there, learnin' Kung Fu, and they let me join up with the squad, right during the two week vacation." Hank looked at Arthur.

"Kung Fu, huh?" He asked. Arthur looked a little proud as he nodded.

"Yeah…" He said. "Bonding exercise for the team. It was, fun."

"Next time you go, maybe I can head up and see what it's like." Hank said. "After my leg lets me, of course." Everyone laughed as Riley stepped forward with Harrigan. "Hello there." She held her hand out, as did Harrigan. He took her hand.

"I'm Riley." She said. He took Harrigan's hand with an oddly familiar smile. "This is Harrigan. He doesn't talk when he's a Rookie." He nodded as Hank looked at the others. As they made their introductions, I felt my tail wagging. I looked at it and grabbed at it. "Mao?" I felt them looking at me, but I kept grabbing at my tail.

"Hold still." I said. They laughed as I kept trying. It was like it was actively trying to avoid my hand. When I finally grabbed it, I held it in place. "Stop."

"Hardly the time for playing around, Mao." Scott said.

"Who's playing?" I asked seriously. "When you're a Patamon, does your tail ever give you trouble? Lena, please back me up here."

"Well, yeah, it's a pain sometimes." She said. "Sometimes a tail _will_ wag, whether you want it to or not."

"And you can wrap yours around yourself." I said. "I can't." She was silent and I looked as she looked at her tail, and Hank laughed.

"You never thought of that?" He asked.

"W-well, no…" She said. "Why would I? It's where I keep my Holy Ring." She slowly moved it, watching as it wrapped around her, and she stared at it for a moment. Daisy laughed as she looked at us.

"Glad I don't have a tail now…" She said. "Wish I were shorter though." As we all laughed, most of us stopped as a chill ran up my spine. "Guys…"

"Wh-what is it?" Mara asked.

"Digimon emerging." I said. "Close." I got up quickly as we looked toward, where the limo had been.

"Take the minivan." Mara said, handing Arthur the keys.

"There won't be enough room." Hank said. He held the keys out to me, and I looked up at him.

"Are you serious?" I asked. "I'm three foot three, including my ears!" He laughed before Sarah held her hand up, just as I pointed. "She's got a license." He looked and tossed the keys.

"Come on Lena." She said. "Let's roll."

"It's a stick shift." Hank said. I ran toward the minivan but stopped, and I ran back. "Mao?" I looked at Scott.

"Mind giving me a lift?" I asked. "I've got an idea."  
>…<p>

"Man, this didn't work out like I'd planned it." I groaned. I got up and slumped on the ledge. "No, that's not, gonna work."

"Mao, are you okay?" Arthur asked quickly.

"Yeah, I'm alive, but I'm gonna, need a few seconds." I said, shifting slightly. The Digimon, a trio of Kuwagamon, and one really angry Buraimon, were in a mall. Buraimon looked familiar, but the thought had been cut short, with the blades of the bird man hitting Scott's staff, forcing him to drop me. I landed on an awning, at first, and the Kuwagamon attacked me with its claws. A quick roll saved my life, and now it was flying toward, the others. "Oh, come on. Where…" I drew the original Baffle and took aim, leaning slightly.

"Mao, above you!" Scott called. I looked up and rolled onto the ground as the Buraimon stabbed where I had just been. "Get back here!" Scott landed and began swinging his staff, only to be blocked by the Buraimon. As they traded blows, I got up and ran toward the edge, and I took aim at the Kuwagamon as it flew toward Daisy. She was already handling the other one, while Harrigan and Lena held off the third one. I took aim and it suddenly flew up. "Mao!" I turned and jumped aside, avoiding the blade.

"What the heck is going…" I started. "Oh boy." I scrambled to my feet and ran into the sporting goods store, hiding behind a counter before hiding inside it. As it came in, I heard it moving around. The air changed, and I shifted just in time to avoid a blade and hide behind a set of backpacks.

"Where are you, you little freak?" He asked quietly. I knew he was looking in, so I was motionless. "Yes, too obvious a place to hide… Unlike, here!" I avoided another stab and hid under a few more things. "Hmmm…" He suddenly let out a cry and his sword was left as another clashed.

"Daisy, how are you doing down there?" I asked quickly.

"One bug's dead." She said. "The other two are in pain. Where are you?"

"Dick's Sporting Goods." I said. "I think. I'm under the counter, and that, Buraimon seems like, it's hunting me. It's really after me…"

"Merde!" Percy said suddenly. "Mao, Scott is hurt, and he had to break off! Get out of there before that bird gets you! Scott wants to blindside him, using you as a decoy…"

"That figures." I said under my breath. The sword was withdrawn and I waited for a moment before moving out, carefully, and I saw Buraimon looking for Scott.

"The cactus is stronger than expected, as are the cat and dinosaur…" He said quietly. "The angel is, as I was told. But that, damnable Impmon. How can he be so much faster than I was told?" He seemed in thought when I felt something changing.

"Mao, that X-Vaccine data, it's going active." Arthur said. "Should we go for it?"

"Do it…" I whispered. "Scott, I'm going to draw him with the X-Vaccine. Be ready. I'm not sure what'll happen."  
>…<p>

"_Mao, I have something that I need you to understand." Scott said. I nodded as I drank the water. "You are being far too reckless. I need you to stop playing the cowboy, doing such foolish things." I set the water down and thought for a moment._

"_I'm not sure I follow." I said. "You tell me to stay back, and I stay back. You tell me to provide cover fire for Daisy and Harrigan, and I provide the cover fire as I can, mostly with fireballs, but, it's still fire that prevents them from attacking. I do what you tell me to do, and I avoid getting into fights with anything a lot bigger than I am until I get a clear shot…"_

"_And there it is." He said. "When you get the chance, you risk yourself, and our friends. It may take me a while longer to defeat a Champion than it does for you, but I can still get the job done. Daisy and Harrigan can become Champions now, and Lena is quite capable despite her size, but you can be defeated in a single hit if you become lax for even a moment." I drank some more water and set the glass down._

"_So, instead of chancing a faster victory, I should let things drag on." I said. "I should just let things keep going and chance you and the others get hurt." He seemed surprised. "I take chances to save your life, and theirs, because the longer a fight goes, the more chance there is that you'll get tired, and make that one tiny mistake. You'll forget to look over your shoulder before you get up and you won't avoid a Devimon's claws, and you'll lose a few wings. This is your new body, Scott, and it looks like it's for life. If you lose your wings, how much data will you need to regenerate them?" He was silent as I finished the water. "Yeah, I put my life at risk, because I trust that when you look over to make sure I'm alright, you'll see an enemy sneaking up on me and you'll fly over to save me, or that Daisy will look over to say 'good shot', and then she'll run toward me and trample the one after me before I can shoot it. I trust all of you that if I'm ever in any danger, at least one of you will be there to save my life, just like I'll be there to save yours. Call me a cowboy all you want, I'm still doing this because you're all my friends." I leaned up and poured a glass of lemonade._

"_Even so, finish the task at hand." He said. "Take the time to make sure you won't be in that danger. At that point, the risk is removed, meaning there is no danger that we must eliminate." I drank some of the lemonade before setting the glass down._

"_Where's the fun in that?" I asked. His expression changed, so I crossed my arms. "What are you really asking me, Scott? Because you could just as easily tell me to focus on the Rookies, and that'd be a lot less effort than having a one on one like this."_

"_What do you think I am asking?" He asked._

"_To be a Virus." I said smugly. He grimaced. "Like it or not, I'm not like what you think a Virus Digimon is supposed to be like. I'm not some 'great and terrible' monster waiting to stab you in the back when you're not looking. I could do that anytime, but the worst I'll do is ask Mara to make an extra spicy hamburger for you and let you take a bite of my super spicy burger. No, the way you're acting, it's like you want me to _not_ trust you and the others. You want to act like you're in total control, and that if I act even a little outside of your plans, it's like you've lost that control." He put a hand on the table as I finished the lemonade. As I set the glass down, I looked up at him. "I don't know what your deal is, but we're on the same team. If my life is in danger, I have to be able to trust the person or Digimon that's running toward me. I don't want to think that when you're flying toward me, you're coming to kill me. I want to think that you're rushing to save my life, just like I'd do for you." I sat down on the books and he made a barely audible sound. "If a Virus can be as good natured as a Vaccine, maybe you can act like a Virus." Without warning the table was thrown across the room, nearly taking me with it. I heard the others getting up, just in time for me to grab Scott's staff and push it aside before kicking his legs out from under him. I got up quickly. "Hey, what's your problem!?" I jumped back to avoid his staff before I threw both Baffles at him, knocking it out of his hand, but he rushed me and picked me up by my throat, slamming me against a wall._

"_I am _nothing_ like you!" He spat. "You had better toe the line, or next time I will not be so forgiving."_

"_This, is, forgiving?" I asked. I swung my foot up, kicking him in the chin and making him drop me. I ran to the other end of the kitchen, and as I turned, he looked ready to go for his staff. The way I caught him made him stop as Percy ran in after telling the others to stay back. I readied myself, and just as Scott got ready, Percy ran in and stood in front of him._

"_Scott, stop it." He said. Scott stared before lowering his arms. "Both of you, in my study, now. I will grab your things." Scott hesitated for a moment before walking out, but as Percy looked at me, I pointed at the doorway._

"_I'll follow you." I said. "I've had enough of _that_ to last a lifetime and a half." He grabbed the discarded weapons and walked out of the kitchen with me just a few feet behind him._

"_Everyone, go back to bed." He said. "It was just a minor thing, something about the lighting." We walked into the study and he closed the door, pressing a button. "Soundproofed. I do not like being disturbed. Sit." I jumped onto a couch near Scott, making him shift to the very end. "Now, what was the cause of this ruckus? I was in the middle of reading a novel, and the first crash made me tear out a page in surprise."_

"_It…" Scott started._

"_It was my fault." I said. I felt Scott turning to look at me. "Apparently, the way I risk my life out there scares Scott, and he thinks I'm going to get someone killed trying to play the hero. I'll admit that when I see an opening to take down a Digimon that's giving Scott and the others a tough time, six times out of ten, I'm going to take the shot. The other four, are when Scott, or Daisy, or Harrigan, or Lena are in the way. More if it's one of our Tamers." Percy seemed surprised. "But, yeah, I take a chance because I trust the others. Scott's concerned I'll forget a Rookie, and they'll either hurt me or _someone_, and I won't be able to stop it, or it'll kill me. I trust that he'd get there in time to bat it away for me to finish off." Percy looked at Scott. "That's not how he'd word it, but that's how I see it… How it escalated to, what it escalated to, I'm still confused about, but hey, could have gone worse."_

"_I fail to see _how_." Scott said._

"_I could have shot you." I said. He was silent._

"_Mao, you are certain he is worried about you?" Percy asked._

"_I never said he was worried about me." I said, shrugging. "I just said he was concerned. But that might just be my imagination. Could be he's jealous that I can drop a Champion, he is a Champion, and he thinks I might turn on everyone."_


	19. A Mall Mishap, Worried About Mao

**This time we're switching the point of view to Daisy. As you recall, the last chapter was a cliffhanger, with Mao activating his X-Vaccine data. Here's what happened with a quick show of what happened where Mao couldn't see, from the eye sockets of a very big cactus with boxing gloves.**

**Disclaimer: I, Lord Genesis Shadow, do hereby state that I do not own the rights to Digimon. Thank you. And again, this chapter is from the point of view of Daisy the Togemon.  
>…<strong>

I threw a hard punch and knocked the Kuwagamon away before I rushed in and began punching much faster, increasing in speed. When I got to the point where I couldn't see my fists, I wished I could have smiled at that point, because it was faster than before.

"Mao, above you!" Scott called over the radio. I gave a mighty uppercut that sent the bug sprawling, and I looked up just in time to knock a second one around.

"Not today." I said. I took a few steps toward it as it landed and picked it up before I began beating it up. Unlike human boxing gloves, mine were a lot harder, like they were filled with lead shot, though they weren't.

"Get back here!" Scott called. I threw the bug into the other and looked up as Scott got into a fight with a Buraimon. As they traded blows, I had to look back to the two Kuwagamon. I felt pretty good about how I was pummeling them.

"You're going down." I said calmly. I walked up and began punching rapidly again. Unlike most Digimon's special attacks, I could use mine for a fairly prolonged period, because of how my attacks just needed me to throw faster punches, so I could just keep it going while using relatively little energy. Even then, it was more to keep my muscles from being fatigued than for damage. "Hold still!" I began punching the two in tandem, each one getting one fist. After a few minutes, I threw two very hard punches, throwing one aside while the other hit the nearby stone pillar, cracking its head. As it tried to recover, I hit it even harder, smashing it and deleting it. "Kay-oh!" I turned and blocked the other one, but to be honest, I was worried from the lack of gunshots. By the time I'd deleted the one, Mao should have put down at least the Buraimon.

"Daisy, how are you doing down there?" Mao asked suddenly. I gave the other one an uppercut as it tried to rush me.

"One bug's dead." I said. "The other two are in pain. Where are you?"

"Dick's Sporting Goods." He said. "I think." I brought both hands down on the Kuwagamon's head before punching it into the central area. "I'm under the counter, and that, Buraimon seems like, it's hunting me. It's really after me…"

"Merde!" Percy said angrily. I jumped down and landed as Harrigan was thrown back by a Kuwagamon while Lena climbed up its back and sliced at its wings with her claws. "Mao, Scotts hurt, and he had to break off! Get out of there before the bird hurts you." I went to look up, and I was immediately attacked by the Kuwagamon, pushed back into a wall where I couldn't punch back. Luckily my needles were keeping it away, but I wasn't going to last long with it so close. "Scott wants to blindside him, using you as a decoy…"

"That figures." Mao said. I felt trapped, but I managed to lean forward with enough force to throw the bug back. As it tried to move, it ran right into my fist. I threw a few punches, pushing it back while Harrigan battled the bug that had just thrown Lena into a nearby bush.

"Mao, that X-Vaccine data, it's going active." Arthur said. "Should we go for it?"

"Do it…" Mao said quietly. "Scott, I'm going to draw him away with the X-Vaccine. Be ready. I'm not sure what'll happen." I knocked the bug around for a few moments when suddenly a gunshot cracked the air, and the head of the Kuwagamon in front of me just disappeared, along with the Kuwagamon as it was digitized. I stepped back and looked up to see Mao, in the form he was in some time ago, when he'd been hurt.

"Good shot!" I called. He fired again, and I looked to see the other Kuwagamon disappearing. He hadn't even called out the name of the attack. I heard a yell and suddenly three more shots rang out. I looked to see him firing at the Buraimon, and one of the swords had shattered. He fired one last time, hitting it in the arm before the bird flew up and out of a shattered window. "Mao!" Before I could ask what he was doing, he fell over and landed in a kiosk as he returned to normal. I ran over as fast as I could manage, and Arthur was already there. Mao had landed in a stuffed animal kiosk. As I stepped up, Arthur pulled him out of it, and he looked like he was asleep. "Is he…"

"He's alive, but it took a lot out of him." He said. "I know he's alright, but, we'd better find something to, wake him up. I've got an idea." He stood up and walked toward the food court.

"You're going to get some ice to awaken him?" Percy asked. We all followed.

"No, something a lot easier." He said. "Mao _loves_ beef, especially the smell. I see a, Burger King, so we'll see if there are any burgers ready…" I ducked under the low ceiling and followed until he set Mao down on the counter, so I nudged him a few times. "Don't worry… Here, this should do it." He walked over and unwrapped a large burger. "Double bacon cheeseburger. If this doesn't do it, we'll need a fresh burger from mom to do the job." He waved the burger under Mao's nose, and after a moment, it began twitching. He was sniffing at the burger. A few seconds later, he leaned up, making Arthur laugh as he reached for it.

"Be-e-e-eef…" Mao said tiredly. Arthur let him have the burger. As Mao opened his eyes, he stared at it before looking at us. "Why was I asleep in the middle of the food court?"

"Mao, what happened?" Arthur asked. "You told me to activate the X-vaccine, and you just, went silent, until you fired. I thought something went wrong." Mao stared for a moment.

"I, remember that…" He said quietly. "Then… Nothing. Total blank. I, kinda remember, being on a ledge, and then, nothing, again. Feels like I, hit something though." I slowly nudged him.

"You fell into a stuffed animal hut." I said. "We thought you were dead." He slowly lowered the burger, but looked at it.

"I know, what I said before, and though it stands…" Scott said. "I'm glad you killed the Kuwagamon. Even if Buraimon escaped, there's no way he was wild."

"Yeah…" Mao said. He sat up a little more. "Before the activation of the data, he flew off, but he said something about being told how powerful we were, said, Scott, was what he was told, but I was faster… He knew about us." I leaned in after a few moments of silence.

"Glad you're okay." I said. "Had me worried, again. Lucky, I don't give you a hug." He laughed. "If I were a Palmon or a Lilymon, I would." Everyone laughed.

"If you were a Lilymon, no offense, I'd try to worry you now and then." Arthur said. I laughed with the others.

"I believe I would as well, and as Arthur said, no offense." Percy added. We stopped laughing after a few moments, and Scott raised his hand slightly.

"I would merely _ask_ for a hug now and then." He said. I slowly nudged him with my glove, but Mao patted my other one, making me look. I put my hand on his head and he laughed.

"Thanks guys." He said. "So uh, lunch?" I slowly nudged him off of the counter and he let out a joking surprised yelp, tossing the burger up, which I caught.

"You and food." Arthur said. "One of these days, you'll eat yourself into a food coma."

"Yeah, with any luck…" Mao said. "Hey… I found where they keep the toys."

"Ooh, lemme see!" Riley said. I dropped the burger and Mao yelped again.

"Special sauce!" He yelled. "My only weakness!"

"Mao, your 'only' weakness is my mother's cooking, action movies, and Sarah in a bikini." Arthur said. I laughed as Mao jumped up, a burger patty held in his mouth as he landed on the counter while Riley ran around.

"Yes, the toys!" She called. "Ooh, and I want, this one!"

"I'll leave some money and a note." Arthur said. Mao ate his burger while Arthur put a few on the counter. "So, who's hungry?"

"I think we should wait." Sarah said. "I want to try your mum's cookin'. All the talk about how good it is makes me really want to try it."

"This should be good for me." I said. I watched as Arthur unwrapped them, and I just pushed them onto one glove before dropping them into my mouth all at once. The others just laughed as I ate. "Mmm… Needs more ketchup…"

"And chips." Sarah said. Arthur held up a bag, and she laughed. "No, _chips_! You know, you call 'em _fries_."  
>…<p>

I sat beside the empty table while the others talked. I was too big and had too much of an appetite to really eat with them. I mostly just wanted to enjoy the company.

"Hey, how are you holdin' up?" Mr. Rowe asked. I looked at him as he walked over. "You look a little, left out."

"I'm okay." I said. "Too big to eat without, eating you out of house and home." He laughed and sat down by me. "Nice to be here, though. Quiet…" He nodded.

"Yeah, that it is." He said. "Glad for that. Overseas… It's a mess, always loud. Gunshots after dark, shelling so often you could set your watch to 'em, and the occasional bomb going off. I got called in to protect people, barely slept most nights… Thank goodness I was able to get rest during the days or I'd be a mess right now." I nodded, mostly to show I was awake. Not having visible eyes made it difficult to tell if I was awake or not. "You know, I notice that, Ann has a little crush on my boy…" I laughed quietly as he looked over. "He's got the Rowe curse. All the males in the family have this, charisma, this, power, to draw attention from most girls about their age." He looked at me. "Don't let him get in too deep, too fast. Interfere now and then." I nodded.

"You got it." I said. I leaned in and lowered my voice as low as I could get it. "I'm more worried about Mao."

"That little blackout he had?" He asked. I nodded.

"He plays it off, but I know he's worried." I said quietly. "As lucky as he is, it isn't good for him. That power really hurts him. He won't say it, but I know."

"Sounds like you're fond of him." He said quietly.

"He's, strong." I said quietly. "Really strong. _Way_ strong." He laughed. "Could give my dad a run for his money, and he's a Mega."

"Well, I think he's lucky to have a, uh, guardian, cactus." He said. We both laughed. "Come on, join us over here. I think Mao could use a friend to cheer him up. Look at him. Laughing, twirling his pistols… Yeah, he's hiding something… Then again, I think we're all hiding something, whether we know it or not." I stood up and walked over with him, and Ann checked her purse.

"You know what, we need a picture, of all of us." She said. She pulled out a camera and set it up. "Come on, group picture." Mrs. Rowe slowly took it and everyone gathered around me, even Mr. Rowe. As she set the timer, she knelt by the nearby folding table and gestured. We moved back, and she set it down, and ran over. When she turned, she adjusted Scott's hair. "Okay, cheese!"

"Cheese!" Everyone said.

"Fromage!" Percy called. We all laughed as the camera flashed. When Mrs. Rowe looked at the camera, she brought it over and showed it to all of us. "Ah, magnifique. It's perfect."

"I'll get copies of this, for all of us." Ann said. "I think we should take one of these again when you all Digivolve again, to show how much stronger you've all gotten." We all agreed, and she turned to me. "Daisy, I hope your eyes were open." I playfully pushed her a little.

"Always are." I said. They all laughed when Mao jumped onto the chair by the table.

"I have an idea." He said. We all looked at him. "Tomorrow, let's go back to headquarters, and talk to the chief. I'm supposed to Digivolve soon, right?"

"Yeah…" Arthur said.

"We spend a few days there, until I do, and let the lab guys get some scans." Mao said.

"Why?" Scott asked.

"So they can scan you all and maybe get an idea of how it all works." I said. "I mean, they've never scanned a Digimon naturally Digivolving before, right?" We all nodded. "They've got the artificial data, and they're trying to create Blue Cards that any Tamer with a D-Arc can use, using the artificial process as a basis for it. If they knew how natural Digivolution worked, maybe it'd help them with that, but also see how close other Digimon are to it."

"You know, that's a pretty good idea." Lena said. "It'd really help us figure out how the whole thing works, and maybe, help find a way to speed it up, or slow it down, or maybe, I don't know, negate it completely if we prefer staying, Rookies or Champions." I nodded, as did the others. "Mao, that's, actually a really great idea." Mao smiled a little.

"Well, it just hit me." He said. "All this time, naturally Digivolving has been, almost random. You never get to find out how close you are. Maybe knowing will help us grow stronger, somehow." He shrugged. "Never know."

"Well, unless it happens between now and the morning…" Arthur said. "I have no problems with it." We all agreed. "Just one thing. What if it doesn't tell them anything? Will we just, sit around and wait?"

"I don't know." Mao said. "Just a thought… And, Harrigan, he's probably close. Either you Digivolve in battle and you don't change back, or you do it so much you get used to it and you transform a while later, or it happens, who knows when." Mr. Rowe laughed as I reached over and put my glove on Mao's head. "Anyway, I mean, it's just an idea. Figured, we could help 'em out. They're comin' up with all of this cool stuff lately. If it helps make artificial Blue Cards, then, why not give 'em a few scans?" I sat down as the others walked over.

"So, they'd need like, a baseline." Arthur said. "They took that when we joined." Mao nodded. "If there's a difference in the areas they're looking for, maybe, they can gauge how close. That's, what you're thinking, right?"

"Yeah." Mao said. "Not my words, but, about what I was thinking. Hopefully it'll work properly. If not, we tried, right?"  
>…<p>

_I walked through the garden with a bright smile, turning and looking at all of the beautiful flowers and trees, while the sun hit me just right. They had special mirrors set up so that there was always light filtering in from all directions, warming me and keeping me comfortable. It was my 'bedroom'. Annabelle's parents were a little, odd, but familiar. The only difference was that it was less so than I was used to._

"_I hope this room is like this all the time." I said. I sniffed a few times and smiled as I looked at a bunch of flowers. "Wow…" I closed my eyes and continued sniffing, when I heard footsteps._

"_Is this room to your liking, young miss?" The butler asked. I nodded. "Very good. Dinner will be served shortly, and it has come to my attention that you are to be instructed in the use of the proper cutlery." I looked up at him and he set a small card table down, while two others put out a set of chairs on two sides. When they were done, he set down a large number of metal items, so I jumped onto the chair and looked at them. "It may take some time, but they are labeled in order of purpose. Study them, and when dinner is called, I will show you to your seat."_

"_Uh, thanks…" I said. "Is Annabelle going to sit next to me?"_

"_You will sit between Miss Annabelle and her mother." He said. "If I may say so…" I nodded after a second. "I am quite pleased that Miss Annabelle has made a new friend, and that you are to be a permanent guest of the family. It has been some time since Miss Annabelle has had any friends, and it is obvious she is quite fond of you already." I smiled. "I am quite certain that in due time, you will be seen as no less than the sister she has not yet had."_

"_I hope so." I said. "She's been really nice to me already." He nodded._

"_That is her nature." He said. "Kind, almost to a fault, that any friends either are seen as family, or they become so gradually. Sadly, the few friends she has known were hiding behind a façade, trying to use her to gain social status, or money. As you merely wish to have a place to stay, and a friend, she will be quite pleased to allow you to live here, as a friend and companion." I nodded and looked at the forks, and slowly moved one over. "Oh, dear, I must be losing my touch… Yet, you knew where it went. Bravo."_

"_It just, felt like where it should have been." I said quietly. I looked past him and smiled, and he looked._

"_Ah, Miss Annabelle, I was just instructing our new guest of proper cutlery usage." He said. She walked over and looked. "I seem to have accidentally misplaced the salad and fish forks. I blame myself for being somewhat excited." Annabelle giggled into her hand._

"_I think we're all a little excited that I have a friend that will live with us." She said. "And, I think I have come up with a name. I was staring out of my window, when I was presented with a bouquet of flowers from, a suitor… And I realized, the name of the flower, was quite nice." She looked at me. "Would it be okay if I called you, Daisy?" I thought for a moment. "It's a very pretty flower, and some day, you will become a Lilymon, a very lovely plant fairy." I smiled._

"_I like it." I said. "It sounds really nice."_

"_I shall inform your parents." The butler said. "If you will excuse me."_

"_Thank you." She said. He bowed before walking away, and Annabelle sat down. "Do you like the garden?" I nodded and looked around._

"_I love it." I said. "It's so big, with so many beautiful flowers and trees…"_

"_They remain in bloom all year." She said. "Our greenhouse is mainly for the beauty aspect, but there are many things to eat, many fruits and vegetables, edible herbs and fungi… I hope, that isn't offensive, or scary."_

"_No, not really." I said. "I'm hardly edible." She giggled after a moment, and I laughed with her._


	20. A Rough Morning, a Rougher Day

**I'm experiencing troubles and difficulties with my laptop for a few weeks. The difficulty, I wrote so much I damaged the spacebar so that it stopped working properly. This means that, until the week of the seventeenth, I'm not likely to get much work done. That said, I backed up the archives and can still post. I just won't be doing a lot of writing. And now that I've said my piece on that, Digital Sheriff, chapter twenty. Please enjoy it.**

**Disclaimer: I, Lord Genesis Shadow, do hereby state that I do not own the rights to Digimon. Thank you, and have a nice first of November.  
>…<strong>

I rolled out of the hammock and landed with a soft thump on the floor, and I groaned.

"We're home, Mao." Arthur said. "You didn't put the clothes pile in the way."

"Now you tell me." I said groggily. I slowly got up and grabbed my belt as he walked out of the bathroom. "So, breakfast?"

"No time." He said. "Percy wants to get in early to let the chief know what we're doing, and that you haven't Digivolved yet but want them to analyze it."

"Sucks that the Optimizer won't tell us much." I said. He looked at it and flipped through a few screens as I did the belt up.

"Well, it does have a shadowed form…" He said. I walked over as he knelt and showed me. "This page has _never_ been there. I think, today might be the day… Look, horns." I looked at the head. "Some kind of wide head at the top? A hat?"

"Don't ask me." I said. "I won't know what it is until I Digivolve… Hey, five fingers. That should be fun to get used to."

"Yeah, you can give bad guys the middle finger." He said.

"I can already do that." I said. I raised my index finger and he looked. "Just turn this around, and it _is_ the middle finger. One on either side, just like how your middle finger has two." He laughed as I pointed at the feet. "No toes though."

"Unless you get clothes." He said. I shrugged, but pointed. "What…" He looked closer. "A timer?"

"It's not going down." I said. "It's, twelve o' clock… I'll Digivolve, at midnight?"

"Seems like it." He said. "Cool."

"Well, might as well live it up, my last day as a prank loving imp." I said. He laughed and put his hand on my head.

"Come on, time for work." He said. "I'm sure dad's giving mom a hard time." We walked out and down the stairs, though as Arthur went to skip the last step, I stopped.

"Arthur, don't even think about it." Mara said. He stopped and went down normally while I just walked beside him. "Mao, thank you for not trying."

"How do you always know when I'm going to do that?" Arthur asked.

"I know my son." She said. Kelly giggled from her seat as Mara held out his lunch pail, and mine. "And I know you're both heading in early thanks to Mao's clever idea." I smiled as I took my pail, an old metal one. "Be sure not to give the lab people any trouble." Hank laughed quietly.

"I won't." Arthur said. "Mao, on the other hand, figures he'll Digivolve around midnight, so he wants to get in a few pranks." Hank looked at me as I smirked.

"What kinds of pranks?" He asked. "I might want some video footage of this." I shrugged.

"Depends on what I have at my disposal." I said. "I like my pranks to either affect a lot of people for some mild chaos, or one person a lot, like Scott and the fire burger." Mara laughed as Kelly giggled again.

"Scott looked funny." She said.

"That he did." Arthur said. "And then he tried to eat Mao's burger. Ended up needing, it." Hank laughed with everyone while I put my hand behind my head.

"Well, when you have company over, it's nice to entertain your guests." I said. "If something good happens, we'll get it on video, so long as I don't get into too much trouble."

"I guess we'll be off then." Arthur said. "Too bad we're not taking the limo." My tail drooped.

"What's up, Mao?" Hank asked.

"Apparently the guidelines say I have to sit in a booster seat." I said. "I'm seventeen, and a Digimon. I'm not exactly tall, but I'm not gonna get hurt from a quick stop in a van." Hank laughed. "Mark my words, this is a natural Digivolution, so when we have no more need for that seat, I'm going to destroy it. This, I vow, in the name of the Sovereigns, the Divas, and two thirds of the deities humans pray to on a regular basis." Everyone laughed at my dramatic tone as I raised my hand, pointing at the ceiling. "And just for good measure, I'm going to vow this in the name of the original Digidestined, the ones that came after, and those Tamers in Japan that killed the D-Reaper."

"Well, if you're done vowing, I guess we're heading out." Arthur said. He hugged Mara, and then shook his father's hand while she gave me a hug.

"If anything happens, let us know." Hank said. "I wouldn't mind seeing my boys in action one of these days."

"I've seen them." Mara said. "Mao deleted a very big red dinosaur Digimon… Tyrannomon, was it?" I nodded.

"Yeah, they never go down easy." I said. "I used a full cylinder to weaken him, and one Dark Round to finish him off." Hank laughed.

"I wonder what would happen if you tried that with a sniper rifle." He said. I began thinking, and smiled.

"That'd be fun." I said. "I can even make extra ammo for it, including the magazine."  
>…<p>

Arthur walked into the break room to put our lunches away, which were padlocked twice each. Breakfast consisted of sausage patties and bacon for me, and three homemade breakfast muffins for Arthur. Hard to say who got the better deal there, but I was happy I could eat mine on the way, whereas he would be eating his in the break room. But as I walked, I heard a yell.

"Corona Slash!" A voice called. I spun around and saw a flaming sword coming down, so I drew both Baffles and blocked with them, catching the blade between the barrels with the trigger guards. It was at that point I thanked my lucky stars they were made of denser-than-average Chrome Digizoid, which I nicknamed Gundigizoid in honor of gunmetal.

"Hey, come on, really?" I asked. A few people ran out as I looked at the attacker as he moved closer. He looked like a Coronamon, with a pair of short swords. He jumped back and readied the blade.

"You're my new sparring partner." He said excitedly. I lowered the guns.

"That's how you ask for me to spar?" I asked. "You just attack out of nowhere? I could have shot you." I held the guns up. "These are loaded…" I looked down the cylinders quickly. "Yeah, loaded."

"So?" He asked.

"Almaz, that's the Impmon that killed two Kuwagamon yesterday." A man said. "And a Tyrannomon, and a Greymon, and dealt the finishing blow to a Myotismon." 'Almaz' looked back and up as I just looked up, holstering the twin pistols. "And how many times have I said to simply ask, instead of randomly attacking? No doubt some people worried you were wild." He was about six one, thin, and had short blond hair with, almost anime styled spikes that reminded me of the video game character Cloud Strife. He wore a pair of blue jeans with one leg cut off, a black shirt and a black jacket with short sleeves, and a pair of black leather gloves. "Honestly, I worry that one of these times you're going to pick on some random Digimon that will have a powerful weapon, and he will hurt or kill you." He knelt and held his hand out. "I apologize for Almaz's behavior." Almaz kicked the ground as he put the sword away on his left hip, though I noticed his Tamer had a pair of swords as well. "My name is Leon, though most call me Lightning." I took his hand.

"Mao." I said. "Most people call me, well, Mao… Though there was that one time someone called me dude…" He laughed quietly. "And it's, well, I can't say it's not a problem, but I've been attacked in worse ways… Kind of."

"Sorry." Almaz said. I held my hand out to him.

"No hard feelings." I said as he took my hand. "I met a Kotemon named Harrigan, and he attacked me with a shinai when I was trying to sleep. Wouldn't have killed me, but it hurts to get hit by." He laughed.

"Well, Almaz is a little different." Leon said. I looked up at him. "As you can see, he's a Coronamon, but his data is, different."

"I'm a Blue Coronamon." Almaz said. "A little stronger than average." I scratched my head lightly.

"Do you have, a different than usual Digivice, by any chance?" I asked. Leon held out a bluish white D-3. "Darn. Am I the only Digimon whose Tamer has an Optimizer?" They looked at each other before Almaz shrugged.

"I don't know, but, sounds cool." He said. I sighed when I heard a squeal, which almost made me jump.

"Oh, he's so cute!" A familiar voice said. I looked over to see Annabelle, Daisy, Sarah, and Lena all gathered around someone.

"I think we'll take our leave, for now." Leon said. "But if you want to spar later, we'll be in the gym."

"Sure." I said. Arthur walked over quickly.

"Mao…" He said. I gestured beside me.

"That's Almaz, and his Tamer Leon." I said as they walked away. "What's going on over there?" He started walking.

"I have no idea." He said. "Let's go see." I walked beside him and saw Percy and Scott over there, and Sara was petting something. As I jumped up to a table, saw a Tsunomon, but it was light gray and white, with a darker gray horn. It was purring from being pet by Sarah and Ann, along with Riley.

"Huh, cute little guy." Arthur said.

"Cute?" The girls asked.

"He's _adorable_!" Ann said. "Just look at how fluffy he is, and how soft he is." The Tsunomon smiled as I sat down.

"Yeah, he's fluffy alright." I said. "If ever there were a fluffier Digimon, it'd have to be called 'Fluffmon'… Unless that's his name."

"Actually, his name is Lobo." A Swedish girl said. I looked at her. "He can Digivolve, but he's cuter this way." She giggled. She had a light tan, and was quite cute for a human. "And he enjoys the attention." Ann slowly moved Arthur's hand to Lobo's head, and he laughed as he started stroking his fur.

"Hey, he is soft." He said. "Mao, you should feel this. It's like, twice as smooth as silk."

"Where are you from?" Sarah asked. "I could swear I know that accent."

"I'm Amber, Amber Ökade." She said. "I'm from Sweden, though, my parents and I became citizens because we wanted a change of pace. My team and I are here tracking a rogue Tamer named…" She pulled out a smart phone and tapped the screen a few times as I looked her over. She wore a white silk shirt with a slightly darker white rose on the chest, a white silk knee length skirt, with a white garter visible, and I saw a pair of white cowgirl boots, which looked to be made of snakeskin. She had a pair of wireframe half moon spectacles, a ring on each finger, mostly white gold on her right hand with yellowish stones, while the ones on her left were yellow gold with diamonds, and I saw a white gold necklace with an amber pendant, white gold bracelets, and there was a white snakeskin purse sitting beside her. "Anderson, but we don't know his given name, only that he travels with a Gargomon that can go Ultimate. Lobo only goes to Champion, but my partners are Ultimate capable, so if we run into him, Lobo can give him the runaround and make him waste his power before the others finish him off." She had odd eyes. The left was green, while the right was blue, but they went well with her platinum blonde hair.

"How soft is his fur as a Champion?" Riley asked.

"Well, he's not a normal Tsunomon." I said. "So he wouldn't be a normal Gabumon or Garurumon. If his fur is soft now, it'll get a little softer, probably, as a Gabumon, but I've ridden two Garurumon, and their fur is… Actually kind of rigid, like it's metal. And it's as cold, too." Lobo looked at me.

"Not like you're soft to the touch." He said. He had something of a nasally young voice.

"True, but I've got hands right now, so if someone hugs me, I can return it." I said. Everyone in the crowd laughed. "You have softness down, and a cute voice, but I can return a hug, shake hands, and run instead of having to bounce or be carried… Though I'm light enough to be carried, too, if I have to be." His fur suddenly puffed out, making me laugh as Amber pulled out a comb and began fixing his fur. "And I don't have to maintain my hair, or lack thereof. Just give me a rag and I can polish my dome." Amber made a quiet sound while Lobo huffed quietly.

"Still, Lobo is cuter than an Imp, and is more well behaved." She said. Arthur put his hand on my head.

"Actually, Mao's pretty calm just about all the time." He said. "Annabelle and Sarah, well, they're pretty, uh, well off. Servants, big houses, that sort of thing, so, Mao has pretty good manners, enough to impress their parents pretty easily. Honestly, he doesn't do pranks that often, and he always apologizes afterward. They're usually pretty mild anyway, so no one ever gets hurt."

"W-well…" Amber started.

"I'm still cuter." Lobo said as she finished combing him. He puffed up slightly, but his hair went out again, making me laugh quietly.

"And you have the mighty 'fluff out' attack." I said. "No enemy could possibly resist the urge to spend a few moments fawning over you." He suddenly puffed up again.

"I challenge you to a battle!" He said. Amber stood up and pulled out her Digivice as Arthur groaned.

"Really?" He asked. "We kind of have to get to the lab for some tests."

"I demand satisfaction!" Lobo said. The crowd parted as she pressed a button, and he Digivolved quickly into a Gabumon. "I will not stand by and be ridiculed!" I snickered before I could stop myself. "What?" I fought the urge to burst out laughing. His voice still had a trace of his Tsunomon voice to it. "What's so funny?"

"You sound like a Tsunomon." I said, fighting to keep my composure. He suddenly threw a punch, but I narrowly avoided it. "Hey, cool it, it's funny… Hilarious almost." The crowd laughed a little as I dodged him as he rotated his arms like a pair of windmills. "Arthur, arms." He adjusted the Optimizer's settings and I caught both fists, and stepped on Lobo's foot while turning slightly sideways. "Dude, chill."

"You chill!" He said. "Arctic Breath!" He exhaled a long blue stream of icy breath at me, and as I began feeling colder, I let go and stepped back, coughing. "Wh-what?"

"Hey, how, did he withstand that?" Amber asked.

"Mao's naturally at home with really cold places." Arthur said. I jumped down as the crowd moved back, including him and Amber.

"The Dark Area is colder on a summer day." I said. "You might want a tic-tac, seriously."

"Arctic Breath!" Lobo called again. I made my foot burst into flame and I held it up, blocking the cold.

"Cut it out, you potbellied, fur coated, windbag." I said. He ran at me.

"Don't count him as a weakling!" Amber said defensively. "He's not potbellied, he's stout!"

"Mao, just, knock him out." Riley said. "He's not gonna give up."

"You purple skinned…" He started. I threw a punch as he went to hit me, and he fell over. I looked at my arm and put my hand to my face.

"My bad." I said. "I forgot Arthur buffed my muscles up." Arthur returned the data to normal as Amber quickly picked Lobo up.

"Wh-what did you do to my precious Lobo?" She asked quietly. "Oh, he's… He's… Why did you do that?"

"He attacked me." I said, shrugging. "I was just having a little fun, pointing out how cute he was, and he took it as an insult, I guess…" I put my hands behind my head. "I'm just glad I didn't pistol whip him. That probably would have turned him back into his Fresh form." She looked at him worriedly. "I'm sorry, but he wanted a fight, I just wanted to talk it out."

"You didn't have to hit him so hard." She said. Arthur walked over.

"That was, partly my fault." He said. "This, changes where the extra data he gets from deleted enemies goes, so, I moved it to his arms to let him grab Lobo's, and… I didn't move it back, so when he threw that punch…" He laughed nervously. "He forgot, I forgot, and, I think Riley forgot." Riley blushed and fixed her glasses.

"It was a cool punch though." She said quietly.

"Agreed." Daisy said. Amber stood up.

"He won't forget this, and neither will I, Mao." She said. "If we meet again, we won't hold back. I have cards to let him win before you can throw a punch." She walked away. "Now, I have to get ready for a brunch date. Excuse me." I scratched my head.

"Does _anyone else_ want to challenge me before we get to the lab?" I asked. The crowd laughed. "Seriously, why doesn't this stuff happen when I _want_ to spar?"  
>…<p>

"Okay, by the looks of this, there are minute changes in your data." The scientist said. I jumped onto the chair to look. "As it stands, there is a lot of data changing every few seconds, and that timer on the Optimizer, may _in fact_ mean noon, rather than midnight, or thereabout." I saw some data shifting. "Do you feel any different?"

"I feel, a little sluggish, compared to usual…" I said. "Then again, the Optimizer had to stop upgrading my data, so maybe it's that…" Arthur changed the data behind me, and when the change was finished, I shrugged. "No, I still feel, about as slow." The scientist nodded.

"Scott, Daisy, Lena, Harrigan, was it like that for all of you?" He asked. They seemed in thought.

"Kind of." Daisy said.

"I remember being a little tired then, but, when I Digivolved, not so much." Lena said.

"I felt about normal, but it was because I was already in this body." Scott said. "I just, sort of didn't De-Digivolve."

"As it was with me." Harrigan said. "And that was this morning, because I stayed as this all night."

"Well, this may be a 'symptom' then." The scientist said. "If we can get the scan during, if there is a difference, we can analyze it." The Optimizer beeped, and we looked as Arthur checked it.

"It just added something." He said. "It's scanning, now… The timer, is counting down now… It's, nine AM?" I looked up at a clock and nodded. "Okay… Two hours, thirteen minutes. So around a quarter past eleven, you're going to change, probably for good… Unless it's just unlocking the form for use, and Lady Devimon was wrong." I shrugged as someone ran over, stopping and panting.

"News, on a case." He said. We all looked at him. "A team that, normally works out of Sweden, was tracking a Tamer named…"

"Anderson." Arthur and I said.

"We met one of the team earlier." Arthur said.

"We've tracked him to a café, and it turns out…" He started. He held a finger up. "I hate stairs."

"So do I, but for having short legs, that's probably the feeling of a lot of Rookies…" I said. "And Lena." She laughed.

"His name is, Craig Anderson." He finished. "Amber, went to date a guy, named _Craig_." I stood up a little. "Their team asked for you directly, to go stop him, before he realizes who she is!" He let out a breath. "Go, quickly."

"Arthur, keep scanning Mao, especially if he Digivolves." The scientist said. Arthur nodded and picked me up.

"Come on, we have to move fast." Arthur said.

"We'll take the limo ahead." Percy said. "What's the address of the café?"  
>…<p>

"Mao, heads up!" Arthur called. I jumped behind cover as a hail of bullets shot past me. The rest of Amber's team was on their way, and the Gargomon declined Digivolving to his Ultimate form, though he was certainly full of energy, with his Tamer swiping cards that restored his strength. Those cards were rare, due to the effort to code the data into them being a manual effort to make them actually useful. Apparently the D-Arcs had to wait a few minutes between each use, or it would be a wasted effort, even if it were between two different cards, unless one was a higher order. His, was a high level version, restoring up to a third of his strength, and his bullets used so little, by the time five minutes passed, he used maybe a quarter. "Darn, what do we do?" I waited for the gunfire to stop, and I leaned out, taking aim. But a bullet hit the side of the replica Baffle, destroying the barrel as it flew out of my hand, and I ducked back, shaking my hand. "Mao!"

"Don't worry, I'm fine." I said. "Man, that really stings. He's, a good shot."

"One of the best!" Craig called. "You won't find a better marksman, or rather, a better marks_mon_."

"Yeah, let me get a shot off from here then, why don't ya?" I called. "I'll show you marskmonship. I'll blow off both of his gatling arms!"

"I've seen the news, _Mao_." He said. "You really should try to convince your Tamer to help me. We could take over the entire city, rob it blind when you're a Champion!"

"The only thing blind here is you!" I called. "Your partner may be able to keep my friends at bay, he might even be able to beat them at a distance, but when it comes to seeing things, you're blind as a bat!"

"How so, cornered imp?" He asked smugly. Gargomon opened up again, and I saw him shooting at the others.

"You're standing under a sign held by one chain." I said. He looked up as I fired at it, and the sign fell. He yelled, and I looked to see Gargomon turning to his partner.

"Boss!" He yelled. He fired on me, missing my ear by inches.

'Dang it, this is going on forever…' I thought. 'There has to be some way for me to shoot that stupid D-Arc, or at least the damn card…' A bullet ripped through, when I heard a yell.

"That's it, time to pull out the trump card." The Gargomon yelled. "Hit me with the Matrix Digivolution!" I looked as the Tamer slid the card, but I'd accidentally put the sign between my sights and him. "Gargomon, Digivolve to!" I jumped up and started running, and I knew the others were as well. "Rapidmon!" I turned just as it took aim. "Homing Missile!" A missile launched from behind it and I jumped just as it hit beside me, and I was thrown into a shop window.

"Mao!" Arthur called. "_NO_!"  
>…<p>

"_It can't end like that…" I said, my voice echoing through the darkness. "It just, can't. One lousy attack, and not even the brunt of it. That was, five feet to my left… It doesn't even hurt…" I looked around. "The landing hurt… But, that was glass, maybe stone… But nothing, cut in, right?" I looked at my body. "No, I'm fine." I looked around again as a grid of purple formed a floor under my feet. "Where am I?"_

"_This is the space between the human realm and the digital realm." A calm voice said. I looked for the source, but the echo meant anything louder than a whisper from five feet was impossible to get a fix on. "The space Digimon go to when they Digivolve while sleeping or unconscious."_

"_So, I got, knocked out…" I said._

"_Yes." The voice said. I couldn't even tell if it was male or female. "You will live, and you will Digivolve soon."_

"_But will I wake up in time to save my friends?" I asked. The voice was silent. "I have to save them. That ticked off Rapidmon's gonna blow them apart! I can't just stay down and let him!"_

"_There is a reason to stay here, and recover fully." The voice said. "Your transformation will heal you, but part of you is lost. You are more than you realize, Mao. You weren't always a simple Rookie. You were far greater. Far more powerful. You have the opportunity to skip Champion, and Ultimate, and go straight to Mega, if you will wait here for one day, hidden from your world." I didn't even think about it. I just drew Baffle and pointed it around before firing, hitting several mirrors that began reflecting all but my current form._

"_I don't care!" I yelled furiously. "I don't have that time! My friends might get killed before I can transform! I need to save them _now_!" The voice was silent. "Just let me go to Champion! I'll get to Mega on my own!"_

"_Even if it means having to wait to remember your past?" It asked. I was silent for a moment. "There is one who remembers you from before. This one remembers well, and keeps your memories safe. Would you wait to find this one, and forsake the chance to return, immediately?" I shot the mirror that began rising._

"_Just let me become a Champion, and I'll deal with the person later." I said darkly. "If I can find out later, then fine, that means I can save my friends _now_, and someday, whatever it is you're talking about, I'll find out about _that_ when my friends aren't at risk." The grid began fading, and it suddenly covered me from head to toe, and I holstered Baffle._

"_Then, awaken, and protect that which has become truly important to you." The voice said. I rose from the floor as my body suddenly became pure data coding, and I closed my eyes._

"_GunImpmon, Digivolve to!" I called._  
>…<p>

Glass flew everywhere as the light became brighter, blinding me, and as it settled, I landed softly on the floor, opening my eyes.

"Mao?" Arthur asked shakily.

"Deputy Devimon." I said. My voice had taken on a soft Texas drawl, and a kind but deep tone. I walked out of the wrecked coffee shop, a Starbucks from the look of the décor, and I looked down the street as Scott coughed and spat up blood, just before the Rapidmon stomped on his back. "Hey, leave my friend alone!" He looked at me, and seemed surprised.

"What the hell are you?" Rapidmon asked. I saw Amber holding Lobo, in his Tsunomon form, behind a building in the alley just a ways from where I was. There was a hurt MetalGreymon on his side, trying to get up, along with a pair of Taomon in oddly colored uniforms collapsed, but trying to move, a few feet away. The others were on the ground, scattered, save for Daisy, who was holding her arm, with plenty of burn marks, and a few bullet holes in her sides. "Hey, I asked a question, _lawmon_." I moved my hand over my right revolver, and he turned, moving his fingers.

"You have one last chance to go back to a Terriermon, or I'm going to have to put you down." I said.

"Oh, and just who, and what, are you, to demand this of me?" He asked. His Tamer stood up, shakily, and moved back. The sign must have fallen on his leg.

"My name, is Mao." I said. He began laughing, but a piece of debris landed on the ground, and as he raised and fired his rocket, using superior speed of an Ultimate, I drew my revolver nearly as fast and fired, hitting the rocket dead center. It exploded just as it started leaving his arm, blowing said arm off. He cried out in agony as he staggered back, grabbing the destroyed and twisted metal just as it fell off, and I drew the hammer back as he looked at me. "Devil Round." I fired, and the barrel issued blackish purple flames, and Rapidmon's helmet caved in, showering blood out of it as he fell back, turning to data the whole way. As most of it flew to me and the Optimizer, I drew the second revolver and pointed it at the Tamer. "Ah-ah, I'd keep that hog leg skinned, city boy. I may look like the devil in a ten gallon hat, but I've got eyes like a hawk." His hand shivered, and he slowly drew it with his thumb and dropped it as his Digivice glowed, and became very dull. He held his hands up and got on his knees, and a Tamer quickly put him in handcuffs.

"You have the right to remain silent." He said. "Anything you say, can, and _will_ be used against you, in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney…" I holstered the revolvers, and I heard glass crunching briefly, so I looked back to see Arthur.

"Howdy." I said. "Sorry about havin' to take that little siesta like that."

"Mao?" He asked. "I-is that, really you? I, I mean…" He held up the Optimizer's screen for a moment, and I looked at it and tilted the hat up slightly.

"It's me, alright." I said. "Don't tell me you don't recognize these eyes." He laughed and I held my hand out. I was just a few inches taller than him at that point. He took my hand, smiling.

"I can't believe it." He said. "I thought… I thought you were dead."

"Well, part of me thought that, too." I said. "I was in a dark place, a voice started talkin', and when I said I had better things back on Earth to deal with, I became, this." I heard someone walking over, and I looked to see Scott, his hand glowing slightly as his wounds began healing.

"And yet again, you swoop in at the last second, and kill an Ultimate…" He said. "I hope you're still our partner, Mao…" I turned and smirked.

"Depends on if you'll hit me with that laundry pole if I say no." I said. Arthur laughed, but Scott seemed apprehensive. "Hey, I'm still Mao, that same little GunImpmon on the inside. I'm just a little taller, with some new duds, and…" I held my hands up. "I can play the piano now." Scott stared before laughing quietly, as if only to himself.

"Yes, you are _decidedly_ the same imp as you ever were." He said.


	21. Breaking in a New Body, Helping The Kid

**Wow, two months. Well, nothing much to say except this is the first post of the year, and I have my time occupied by rewrites and new games, and the weekly episodes of MLP for a while, which makes me a happy Demon.**

**Disclaimer: I, Lord Genesis Shadow, do hereby state that I do not own the rights to Digimon: Digital Monsters. Thank you.  
>…<strong>

I settled against the chair as the others talked to one another, and I thought about my new revolvers. Baffle had been a thirty eight caliber revolver, and these two were a pair of forty four magnums. The change of going from GunImpmon came with a few surprises apart from the new revolvers. Starting with the feet, I actually did have toes, complete with claws instead of toenails. Those would ruin someone's day, easily. Add in the new height, it's lucky the new data gave me immediate acclimatization to the differences. Then there were the long horns on my head and the claws instead of fingernails, half an inch from the tips of my fingers, but they could be retracted, unlike the toe claws.

I also now had clothes apart from a belt, gloves, and a neckerchief. A black leather vest, torn in the back for two long slits, with ripped off sleeves, as though it had been a jacket at some point, and a very damaged dark gray and red checkered shirt, with slits lined up perfectly with those in the vest. I had a pair of Devi jeans, and they, too, had seen far better days, as they were ripped at the bottoms of the legs, with holes in the knees, and more than a few small rips, tears, and even bullet holes, though they wouldn't get worse with time. I had a pair of scuffed and damaged black cowboy boots with dented and slightly oxidized iron ten point spurs. They'd jingle, but not very loudly, and they wouldn't rotate very much. I still had gloves, black with red stitching, and still fingerless, and my neckerchief had simply grown slightly, but now I had a black leather mask covering the upper part of my head, but not the rest. I felt that I had hair, around my neck, and Scott said it's black, whereas my eyes are brighter red than before.

But my favorite change was that the blank tin star had become a Deputy Sheriff star, tarnished silver, but the words were clear. Oddly, my DGA badge still existed, still on my belt, and had not changed at all. My one issue was with the black Stetson on my head, and my horns were growing through the sides, meaning it was stuck. I found that I could delete it though, so I would be okay with it for a while, it just had a tendency to make itself known by tilting down at odd times to impair my vision a little.

"Mao, are you okay?" Daisy asked. I nodded.

"Just thinkin' about my new body." I said. "And my new voice. Sounds like it belongs, and the drawl is, kinda nice." She sat by me. The lab techs were going over the data, and the others seemed concerned for some reason. "Just gotta get used to my new vocabulary. I'll have to get that under control." She laughed.

"I like it." She said. She slowly slugged my shoulder. "Cowboy and a cactus." We both laughed.

"Now we just need a horse and a proper sheriff." I said. I tapped the star with my finger, being careful of my new claws. "Just a deputy." She slugged my shoulder again.

"Strong looking deputy." She said. I smiled a little and looked at the table. "Thinking?"

"I name my weapons." I said. "And I think I've got the names for them."

"Sounds like you've given it some thought, deputy." Scott said. They all walked over, sitting at the table, save for Percy and Riley. Percy just stood by Arthur with Riley on his shoulder.

"What are you going to call them?" Arthur asked. I put the revolvers on the table. They were old looking, but not rusty or damaged at all, save for superficial scratches in the metal and a few pits here and there. I touched the right revolver.

"Panic." I said. I touched the other. "And Disorder." Most of the others laughed. "Baffle is a type of confusion, Panic is worse, and Disorder is yet another name for the same thing."

"You sure like naming your weapons after odd things." Sarah said. "Hey, can you still summon Bamboozle?" I shrugged.

"No clue." I said. "Arthur?" He checked the Optimizer.

"Okay, let's see…" He said. "Tech list grew, but, the Shinai isn't there anymore… But… Devil Rounds, a decidedly improved Dark Round, as we saw… Dark Reload, pretty much just Shadow Reload, probably uses the same amount of power… Dark Justice Claw?" I saw images in my mind's eye.

"I use my new claws to scratch or impale my target." I said. "I infuse them with darkness…" Scott seemed apprehensive while the others seemed unnerved. "And then I make them tired, and demoralized, so they might just give up."

"I like that." Arthur said. "Sounds, cool… Okay, Dark Wave." More images appeared in my mind.

"Pure darkness from my hand, like Scott's ranged Hand of Fate, but wider." I said. "I can focus it for a very powerful stab of energy if I need it."

"Death's Hand? Arthur continued.

"Mano de Muerte…" I said quietly. Daisy and the other girls laughed. "Just a blast of darkness, like Dark Wave, but as a single burst to do the most immediate damage… Tiring."

"Hellfire, Exhalation?" Arthur asked. "You can breathe fire?" I thought for a moment and nodded, smirking.

"Couldn't call me the devil if I couldn't spit hellfire all over." I said. Arthur and Percy laughed.

"Sounds like you've gotten, considerably more powerful." Scott said. "Do you think you can stay as we've known you to be, or will there be issues with temptation?" I shrugged.

"I can't really see myself abusin' my new gifts." I said.

"Looks like you have most of your old techniques, too." Arthur said after a moment. We looked at him. "Badda-Boom Shot, Big Badda-Boom Shot… Well, looks like Infernal Funnel isn't there, nor is Burning Fence, but Blazing Lasso, is upgraded to Hellfire Lasso, and the Red Tips, are Red Magnums…"

"Well, these brothers are forty four magnum." I said. Arthur laughed.

"Dirty Harry…" He said.

"Who?" Percy and Scott asked. Riley jumped down as I picked up Confusion, holding it near my face dramatically as I deepened my voice.

"I know what you're thinkin'." I said. "Did he fire six shots, or only five? Well, to tell ya the truth, in all this excitement I kinda lost track myself. But being as this is a forty four magnum, the most powerful handgun in the world, and would blow your head clean off, you've gotta ask yourself one more question; Do I feel lucky? Well, do ya, punk?" They all laughed at my impression.

"'Dirty' Harry Callahan, Clint Eastwood." Arthur said. "Classic movie about a cop willing to do whatever it takes to bring down the worst bad guys." Percy and Scott looked at each other.

"Even I know those lines." Riley said. "Mom watches it once in a while, and I can hear it all from my room."

"Mr. Rowe, Mr. er, Deputy Mao?" A man asked. "The data just cleared, and it, has put us a step closer to completing a project." He held out a clipboard to Arthur, and he took it. As he looked at it, he looked at me and slid it to me. I looked down at it after holstering the revolvers.

"A machine that stabilizes Digivolution, specifically, artificial." I said.

"Yes, once it's complete, if you can go Ultimate, we can make it permanent." The man said. "Instead of having to wait, or constantly Digivolve and let the data settle as that stage through time, we can impart instant stable data that will let you go Ultimate and stay that way. When we complete it, if one of you can, go to Ultimate, we would like to ask that you allow us to test the theory. There are no foreseeable negative effects, so… Yeah." I handed him the clipboard.

"Glad I could be of assistance." I said.

"Well, coming from the devil…" He said. I laughed.

"Don't worry, no strings attached." I said. We all laughed.

"Well, I'll get back to work." He said. "Thanks again." He walked away and Percy stretched.

"Well, seeing as we have done what we came to do, and it is three in the afternoon…" He said. "I think we should go back to the rotation… Whose home are we going to tonight?" Sarah raised her hand.

"My place, and I think Mao's gonna need some new formal duds." She said. I looked at my vest and adjusted it slightly.

"I'd be much obliged." I said.  
>…<p>

I settled against the wall as the party went on. Whether or not it was in full swing was beyond my ability to tell. People in fancy outfits, some of which probably cost more than Arthur and I made in a month, drinking various beverages, both alcoholic and non, and food I didn't remotely recognize.

"Wow, and I thought being rich would mean great parties." Riley said. "They don't even have any good music to dance to, if they'd dance." She sat down by me, sighing tiredly. "The food stinks, literally, I don't know what half of it is, and the only thing that did smell good tasted _horrible_."

"That's why I chose to be upwind of it." I said. She laughed. "Don't go inside, it's worse." I sat down after grabbing a chair. "Nothing interesting, at all?"

"Arthur's over there with Sarah and Ann, Percy's talking to someone he recognized…" She said. "Scott's talking to a few Angel Digimon with Lena, Daisy's in the indoor garden, and Harry's getting something to eat inside that isn't finger food. He's hungry lately."

"Champions usually are." I said. "Rookies eat a lot, Champions eat more, at first. Way I understand it, Champions need more energy for the first few weeks, and when they get totally used to it, they go back to normal, human sized meals. If they're human sized." She laughed quietly as I took a glass of water.

"Hey, since you're like the devil, can you, like, change things to other things?" She asked. "Like turning that water into, cherry coke?" I shook my head.

"Not in this world." I said. "In the Digital World, yes, but it takes energy to convert one liquid to another." She sighed, setting her chin on the table.

"Well, I'm bored." She said. "And we promised not to cause trouble."

"I think we'll be alright." I said. "We can always call it an early night and have our own party in the morning." She smiled a little, but stopped. "Somethin' wrong?"

"My mom…" She said. "She, doesn't care that I'm working, but she wants me to put money toward things already. I don't want to. I… I want to have a better family. I want my mom to, not be my mom…" I put my hand on her shoulder.

"Don't worry." I said. "We can all help."

"I know, but…" She started. "I feel bad, that I don't want her to be my mom anymore. I feel like, I'm bad, for thinking like that…" I moved my hand a little.

"You're not bad for wanting her to be a better person." I said. "You're not bad for wanting a mother that actually cares about you. Everyone wants a better family, a perfect family, a perfect life. All you can do is try to cope, and if you can't, you've got friends that care, and we're all willing to help if you just tell us what we can do." She smiled a little, but looked at the table. "Tell you what, I'll talk to her and set a reasonable amount of money you can put toward groceries, and only groceries, for you when you're home, good food and drinks that are good for you, alright?" She smiled a little more.

"Are you sure you're not an Angemon?" She asked after a second. We both laughed and I patted her shoulder. "Thanks, Mao."

"We're friends." I said as I leaned back. "I haven't had many, neither has Arthur up to now, but I know that friends help each other. If I know Arthur, he'll drive us over there and…"

"Mao?" She asked.

"You know, Percy said his mother's a lawyer, right?" I asked. She nodded. "So, he knows a thing or two about it, I'd wager. So why don't we ask him along and he can help with this, he's smart enough to pull it off." She smiled. "We can try for tomorrow before breakfast, come to a number, and that'll keep her off your back, you can keep your job, and if she tries to get you fired we'll call bull on her." She laughed. "Worst comes to worst, we call her an unfit mother, and, we'll find some way to keep you with us."

"Y-yeah…" She said quietly. Arthur suddenly walked over, brushing off his jacket shoulders while Percy and the girls walked up.

"Hey." Arthur said. "Any chance you've got some kind of unholy stain remover power?" We all laughed. "I'm talking to some guy, trying to get away, all of a sudden he spills a glass of wine on the jacket, and I don't know how to get a wine stain out before it sets."

"We'll get it taken care of." Sarah said. "So, what's going over here? Anything's more excitin' than what's going on everywhere else."

"Just, talking…" Riley said. "I, uh, I was thinking, my mom's asking for money, and I don't, know what would be fair, so, Mao and I were talking, and he says, he could help figure out a fair amount, to put to some food, just for me, and something fair for mom for, bills."

"You know, my father taught me a bit about that, and I do alright on my bills and taxes." Percy said. "And my mother was good at making arrangements, talked about a few things with me about it in case I ever felt like following in either of their footsteps. I could talk to her about her expenses and how you could, how to say, chip in."

"R-really?" She asked. Everyone nodded.

"You are our friend." He said. "It would be terrible for us to leave you to deal with this on your own. Too much would be extortion, too little and she could take back her permission. I can make sure that whatever you pay will be just enough that you'll build up a healthy savings account while she's able to handle the bills. I'll call in my mother to get a contract drafted so that it will be entirely legal, so that if she demands more money, you can use the contract to make her stop, or if you want to do anything else." He leaned in. "Honestly, from what I've seen, alone, I think the best option would be to rent an apartment of your own in a few weeks so you can just give her a little money once a month to keep her at bay."

"S-sounds good to me, I guess, but, am I old enough?" She asked.

"Tell you what, I will co-sign for it." He said. "That way, all you have to do is not destroy the apartment and I'll handle keeping it paid off, and you can just get the money to me so it will be even." She nodded, smiling, and I patted her back lightly.

"See, friends help each other." I said. "Even the devil knows that much." They all laughed.  
>…<p>

"So, what do you think?" Percy asked. Riley's mother looked the contract over before her eyes darted up toward me.

"I'd ask if you made a deal with the devil, but since he's standing here…" She said. I laughed genuinely.

"I only played a small part, but that offer is more than fair." I said. "Even by _my_ standards." She grunted and looked it over again.

"Sign this, and Riley moves out so you can have some more room." Percy said. "And she'll send you the amount noted once a month for bills and tax purposes, but if you need more, I'll have to step in to be sure, and yes, I've checked the laws regarding this, and this is legal." She looked a few more things over, adjusting her glasses slightly. "Apart from that, just let her keep her job and the apartment and you'll have a little easier time on your bills."

"Sounds fair…" She said. "Jim won't mind, I guess. Gives us more time to get closer." She pulled out a pen and tested it before writing her name. "There, when's the first payment?"

"Two weeks from now." Percy said as he wrote his name in the notary space. Riley then wrote her name. "We're currently checking out a reasonably priced apartment she can move into in that time." He pointed to me. "Mao has agreed to personally deliver the first payment, and each payment thereafter will come from a company that requires a signature so we can be sure it arrives for your sake and Riley's." She nodded when a feeling hit me, so I stood up slightly.

"I know that look." She said. "Somethin's comin' through." I nodded.

"Yeah…" I said. Our phones began ringing and we checked them.

"Confirmed, they came through ten minutes ago, and it's in our area." Percy said. "Correction…"

"Three areas." Scott said. "We'll have to split up."

"Ann, you and Arthur head to the first spot, here…" Percy said, texting us the location. "Riley, you are with Sarah at location two. Scott and I will hold off the third until backup arrives. Looks to be four big threats in all. Looks like Three champions, and one Ultimate… No sign of where that one went."

"Keep her safe." Riley's mother said. "And make sure Harrigan doesn't bite it."

"You can rest assured we will keep them safe." Percy said. "Once we know where the Ultimate is, we're officially working under another team this time, led by, Pete Rook. Arthur, Ann, you're meeting up with his partners, Sylvia Reynolds and Elliott Arnold." We started walking out. "Riley, Sarah, you're working with June and May Richards, twins or at least sisters, I suspect. I will be working with Pete personally."

"Mao, can you carry me there?" Arthur asked. "Sarah, take the car." He tossed her the keys.

"I'll ride on Daisy's shoulder." Ann said. As we stepped out, I unfurled my new wings, or rather I formed them from data. I grabbed Arthur under his arms as Daisy picked Ann up and the others left. I quickly took to the air and Daisy started running as Arthur pointed. "Run the red lights Daisy, this looks like it'll be a hard one!" I quickly picked up speed, but stayed close to Daisy, and Arthur gestured. "Little lower." I flew in close and he looked at Ann. "The plan is, we set down at a safe point near our new partners. Mao and I are going to go on ahead and spot them, and then he'll guide you in. I checked and found out we're going to a public park where the target, has apparently just sat down. It's a Kokatorimon, but they're sure it'll fight if confronted. We'll keep an eye on him from afar."

"What are our partners?" She asked.

"Looks like, an Apemon called Hanu, and a…" He started. I looked down slightly to see his phone.

"A Deputymon." I said. Ann and Daisy laughed.

"Unbelievable, this is going to be difficult if he's like the ones I've heard of." Arthur said. "Alright then, up, up, and away, Deputy Mao."


End file.
